Chris Froome ticked off another day at the Tour de France with a safe passage through stage 15 to retain his advantage in the yellow jersey.

The Brit was untroubled on the road to Valence and held on to his race lead of three minutes and 10 seconds over nearest rival Nairo Quintana (Movistar).

Team Sky stepped up to control the race during periods of the 183-kilometre test, setting a pace on the day’s descents and ensuring Froome remained out of trouble and near the front.

With the day’s break never afforded a significant advantage, a number of teams combined to pull things back together inside the final 30km for a bunch sprint.

The stage went to Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) who bested his rivals in a frantic bunch kick to claim his third win of the race.

John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) and Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) narrowly missed out, while 23rd across the line saw Froome finish in close proximity, also keeping hold of the polka dot jersey. Geraint Thomas retained sixth overall, 4:54 back as the GC went unchanged.

Froome was happy to come through the day without issue with five stages now remaining ahead of Paris.

"It was a full-gas stage today, incident free, and there was a great atmosphere out on the road," he said.

"The fans and supporters who are out on the roads – the thousands and thousands of people – they’re the heart and soul of this race. It’s great to be received in that way and have that kind of really positive energy from everyone. I'm very happy with the fantastic support I got from the crowd today.

"There were no unfortunate incidents today. We’re here to do a job and obviously that takes precedence. What happened yesterday was unfortunate and hopefully that’s not going to happen again now.

"It looked like a straight forward stage on paper, an easy day for us and a good day for the sprinters but it wasn't! It was full gas all day. It didn't stop. It ended up being a very tough stage.

"My team-mates Peter Kennaugh and Richie Porte have had a bit of a cold. It's not up to me to comment on their medical condition but they seem fine. We're still nine riders in the race, that's a big credit to us.

"We had to stay focused, and we only have five real racing stages left before the big finish on the Champs Elysees now. 

"There are some tired bodies out there on the road but we’re in an extremely fortunate position. We still have nine riders – everyone’s fit and healthy – so we’re hoping to get through to the rest day OK and then focus on the rest of the race. With over three minutes lead on GC I'm in a very privileged position. I'm looking forward to the rest day. 

The day began with an immediate 18km ascent out of Mende and the third-category Cote de Badaroux was predictably the scene of a number of attacks.

27 riders eventually battled clear, but with Katusha chasing, that pressure eventually reduced the group to just nine riders on the road.

Luke Rowe arrived on the front as the peloton began the long and technical 13.5km descent off the Col de la Croix de Bauzon. The Welshman set tempo with Froome on his wheel as a brief rain shower came down.

With just a slender two-minute advantage at the intermediate sprint point in Aubenas the break knew their days were numbered.

A promising attack from Zdenek Stybar (Etixx – Quick-Step) with 3.5km remaining was snuffed out, and with Froome safely across the 3km mark a big sprint battle brought the stage to a close.