Marcel Kittel’s first Tour de France stage win in two years came by the narrowest of margins on a day when Mark Cavendish found himself completely squeezed out in Limoges.

This was the ninth Tour stage win of Kittel’s career, and the first for the Etixx-QuickStep sprinter since Paris in 2014, but it was only confirmed after officials checked the photo as he beat Bryan Coquard of Direct Energie by just four millimetres.

Tinkoff’s Peter Sagan came home in third to retain the yellow jersey, but there was disappointment for Cavendish as he became separated from his team-mates and found himself boxed out before coming over the line in eighth.