This was how unbelievably close the Tour de France finish was today

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 a few millimetres.