Greipel takes Tour de France Stage 5

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SAINT-QUENTIN, France, July 5 (UPI) -- Andre Greipel of Germany dashed to victory Thursday in Stage 5 of the Tour de France, winning his second straight stage.

Greipel covered the 196.5-kilometer (122 mile) route Rouen to Saint-Quentin in 4 hours, 41 minutes, 30 seconds, finishing ahead of a group including Matthew Gross of Australia, Juan Jose Haedo of Argentina Samuel Dumoulin of France and world champion Mark Cavendish of Great Britain.

"That was one of the hardest sprints I've ever done in my career," Greipel said.

Greipel, who managed to avoid a crash less than 3 miles from the finish, has a 7-second lead over Bradley Wiggins of Great Britain and Sylvain Chavanel of France, heading into Friday's Stage 6 -- a mostly flat 207.5-kilometer (129 mile) course from Epernay to Metz.