Australian cyclist Robbie McEwen has won the seventh stage of the Tour de France, but six-time champion Lance Armstrong of the United States remains the overall leader.
In a 228.5 km ride that took the Tour into Germany, McEwen took his second stage win in a mass finish with a total time of 5:03:45 hours.
Sweden's Magnus Backstedt was second while Bernhard Eisel of Austria was third.
Armstrong finished 54th in the main pack of riders and was credited with the same time as the winner. The American remains 0:55 seconds ahead of Discovery Channel teammate George Hincapie with Kazakhstan's Alexandre Vinokourov third, 1:02 minutes behind Armstrong.
Saturday's eighth stage takes the riders into the mountains from Pforzheim, Germany to Gérardmer, France and covers 231.5 kilometers. There are three category three climbs at the beginning followed by a flat ride and then the ascent of the category two Col de la Schlucht before the stage ends. The Tour ends in Paris July 24.
Some information for this report provided by AP
