When Mark Cavendish crashed out of the race, Omega Pharma-Quick Step suddenly found themselves without their leader in the Tour de France but the team has been a constant presence in all stages so far. Determined too fight on, they got their reward today when Matteo Trentin won stage 7 and the Italian dedicated his second Tour victory to the British sprinter.

In his second Tour de France of his career, Matteo Trentin also got his second stage victory. He won 234.5km Tour de France Stage 7 on Friday in a breathtaking close finish that was decided by about the depth of a tire.

Peter Sagan (Cannondale) caught him just before the line, but was unable to pass Trentin in time thanks to a bike throw. Trentin launched first out of the peloton after being led out perfectly by teammate Michal Kwiatkowski in the white jersey. Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Belisol) was 3rd.

Omega Pharma - Quick-Step has already finished inside the top 5 of several stages, constantly fighting for a possible stage victory despite the loss of sprinter Mark Cavendish after the first stage. Michal Kwiatkowski moved up to 4th in the GC after all the hard work of himself, as well as the entire team. OPQS worked just as hard in Stage 7, helping to chase down an original six rider breakaway, and protecting key riders despite several crashes.

"It was really good because it was me who won today, but it was the whole team working," Trentin said. "The whole team worked since the first stage for Cav. When Cav crashed, we said to each other that we have to keep fighting.

"We have to work and keep an eye out for the victory. We have to finalize every day with the maximum effort possible. We did it exactly like this. We were always on the front on the flat stages, the hilly stages, even on the cobbles. We didn't have a lot of good luck, but today all that hard work paid off.

"As for the finish, it was really close, but I heard first on the radio that I won. Honestly I had no idea I got the victory as I thought Peter Sagan just barely beat me on the line. But, I got the win and I am super happy. Cycling is beautiful because anything can happen, and it was so close I couldn't celebrate until I knew for sure.

"I also have to thank Michal Kwiatkowski, who led me out today. He showed last year he is strong everywhere. At this Tour de France for sure he has proved he's in good condition and he will try his best day-by-day, as he has been doing so far. We are here to also help him do his best, just as he helped me today in the sprint.

"But really, this was the result that came from the effort of everyone in an OPQS jersey. The team fought every day to take home a victory and to make the best result that is possible. We did it for Cavendish and for us as a team. We are really happy right now and I want to share the celebration with all of OPQS, as we all worked together to get to this point.

"It's been tight! I've won by just a few centimeters. It was very nervous with this complicated finale and those crashes but I didn't realize really because everything was happening behind me.

"Surprisingly, I wasn't feeling good this morning. I didn't have good legs and after 150 kilometres, I didn't know how I'd manage to go over those two climbs at the end. But on the way, I felt better and better. After the first climb, I realized something was possible.

"The course was really inspiring for me. Kwiatkowski led me out at perfection. I had to finish it off. But at the end, I really thought that Sagan had passed me.

"It's wonderful for the team, especially after six days of bad luck. We've had punctures, crashes, wrong timing for attacking, chain drop, etc. Since Cavendish crashed, we try all we can to go for a stage victory, with Renshaw, Kwiatkowski and I'm the one who makes it. But it's not my victory, it's the team's victory.”

The peloton kept the pace high through the two late race Category 4 climbs, but Kwiatkowski and Trentin were able to keep themselves near the front even after Sagan and Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) launched an attack in hopes of preventing the bunch sprint in the final kilometers.

Trentin's victory is the 46th for OPQS, in three disciplines, in 2014.

"I'm happy about this great addition to my palmares because of the job that I did this year," Trentin said. "This year I stayed in the US after AMGEN Tour of California. I spent a few weeks in the US to prepare for the second part of the season. I'm thrilled to see my effort be rewarded like this. It shows when you work hard you will get a result sooner or later."