Tour de France 2012: Andre Greipel wins stage 4 as Mark Cavendish crashes

A rough Tour de France continued on Wednesday (July 4) with riders arriving in the northwestern France city of Rouen. Germany's Andre Greipel won stage 4 after Britain's Mark Cavendish went down in a multi-bike crash just minutes from the finish line. He later said he suffered only "superficial" injuries.

Cavendish had been favored as a winner of the stage until the crash, which left him scratched and ending the stage with a broken helmet. Tuesday's stage 3 winner, Peter Sagan, finished the stage fifth, but Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara retains the overall lead.

Bradley Wiggins remains in second place, 7 seconds behind Cancellara and defending champion Cadel Evans of Australia is hanging on to seventh place, 17 seconds off pace.

On Thursday, riders will compete in the fifth stage, a 122-mile trek from Rouen to Saint-Quentin. Since it is mostly flat, sprinters are expected to lead the pack.