Sagan adds to lead for Tour de France green jersey

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A second straight day in the breakaway to claim maximum points in the intermediate sprint and fifth place on the line in Valance for Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) after a "crazy" sprint effectively sealed a fourth straight Tour de France points classification victory.

Unable to stop Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) from claiming a third stage of this year’s race and 50 points for first across the line, Sagan's breakaway efforts to pursue intermediate sprint points has been akin to the tactics successfully employed by Thor Hushovd at the 2009 Tour. As it stands, Sagan now leads Greipel in the points classification by 360 to 316 points having started the day on 322 and 261 points respectively while Greipel leads the stage win count 3-0.

In post-race comments, Sagan repeatedly stated that the only way to win is to try, try, and try again with stage victory still a major objective at the race despite the green jersey all but his.

"I try every day, what can I do? Everyday I am trying. If God wants me to win, I win but otherwise I come second, third…" he said of his10th top-five finish in the 2015 Tour. "I tried but it’s not easy. You try and imagine if you are me, do have an answer? [I feel] very good, what can I do? I am trying. If you want something, you have to try."

"Ah for sure yeah because it was my big objective here in Tour de France where they changed the rules and all the stuff. If I can win another green jersey, it will be nice," he added.

Sagan’s quest for stage victory on Monday has been dealt a blow with sport director Sean Yates to serve a one-day suspension from the race after a mid-stage altercation saw a bidon thrown at a TV camera bike that was impeding a bike change. Yates becomes the second sports director to serve a ban at the race after Etixx-QuickStep’s Davide Brammatti was caught celebrating Tony Martin’s stage win sans seatbelt.