The 2011 Tour De France completed its second longest stage with Mark Cavendish claiming his second stage win of the Tour. The seventh stage took the cyclists from Le Mans to Châteauroux on a fairly flat course that opened things up for the sprinters. The top of the leaderboard remained more or less the same with Thor Hushovd retaining the yellow jersey and Cadel Evans of Santa Rosa-based BMC racing in second place, one second off the lead.
The big news on the day was a crash in the final 30 kilometers. A sizable crash split the peloton with 60 riders in the frist group and a huge chunk in the second group. The crash ended Bradley Wiggins' Tour as he may have a broken collarbone. Santa Rosa-based Levi Leipheimer and his Radio Shack teammate Chris Horner both got stuck behind the accident and lost considerable time. Leipheimer finished 3:06 back of the front and now sits in 50th place 4:29 back of first.
Here are your Top 15 standings after seven stages:
| Std | Rider | Rider # | Team | Time | Gaps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |
 HUSHOVD Thor |
51 | TEAM GARMIN - CERVELO | 28h 29' 27" | |
| 2. |
 EVANS Cadel |
141 | BMC RACING TEAM | 28h 29' 28" | + 00' 01" |
| 3. |
 SCHLECK Frank |
18 | TEAM LEOPARD-TREK | 28h 29' 31" | + 00' 04" |
| 4. |
 MILLAR David |
56 | TEAM GARMIN - CERVELO | 28h 29' 35" | + 00' 08" |
| 5. |
 KLÖDEN Andréas |
74 | TEAM RADIOSHACK | 28h 29' 37" | + 00' 10" |
| 6. |
 FUGLSANG Jakob |
13 | TEAM LEOPARD-TREK | 28h 29' 39" | + 00' 12" |
| 7. |
SCHLECK Andy |
11 | TEAM LEOPARD-TREK | 28h 29' 39" | + 00' 12" |
| 8. |
MARTIN Tony |
175 | HTC - HIGHROAD | 28h 29' 40" | + 00' 13" |
| 9. |
 VELITS Peter |
179 | HTC - HIGHROAD | 28h 29' 40" | + 00' 13" |
| 10. |
 GESINK Robert |
41 | RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM | 28h 29' 47" | + 00' 20" |
| 11. |
 VINOKOUROV Alexandre |
61 | PRO TEAM ASTANA | 28h 29' 59" | + 00' 32" |
| 12. |
 GILBERT Philippe |
32 | OMEGA PHARMA - LOTTO | 28h 30' 00" | + 00' 33" |
| 13. |
VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen |
31 | OMEGA PHARMA - LOTTO | 28h 30' 06" | + 00' 39" |
| 14. |
 BARREDO Carlos |
42 | RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM | 28h 30' 07" | + 00' 40" |
| 15. |
 BASSO Ivan |
91 | LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE | 28h 30' 30" | + 01' 03" |
We'll be here for the entire race providing news updates and stage previews and recaps, particularly as they relate to Bay Area cyclist Levi Leipheimer. For more in-depth discussion on the 2011 Tour De France, head over to Podium Cafe. For more general Tour coverage, head over to the SB Nation story stream.