For the fourth time in this year's Tour de France, Greg Van Avermaet got close to a stage victory when he finished 7th in stage 11. Having missed the selection when four riders took off in the finale, however, he had to wait for teammate Daniel Oss to help bring back the group and the small hesitation allowed Tony Gallopin to stay away.

BMC Racing Team's Greg Van Avermaet notched his fourth top 10 finish of the Tour de France with seventh place on Wednesday, while teammate Tejay van Garderen remained seventh overall. Over the last climb of the 187.5-kilometer stage, Van Avermaet was part of a group chasing a breakaway of four others: past yellow jersey wearer Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Belisol), Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Michael Rogers (Tinkoff-Saxo) and points classification leader Peter Sagan (Cannondale Pro Cycling).

"It was hard to chase them back, so I had to wait for Daniel Oss," Van Avermaet said. "He came to the front and tried to work for me the last three kilometers."

Gallopin attacked his breakaway companions and soloed in just ahead of the chase to win the stage. John Degenkobl (Team Giant-Shimano) was second and Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) finished third.

"I tried to go a good sprint in the end," Van Avermaet said, "but maybe started a little bit too early. In the end they came over me."

Van Avermaet's top 10 placing added to a runner-up finish on Stage 2, third on Stage 9 and 10th on Stage 7.

Tejay van Garderen finished 26th and in the same time as the stage winner. He is 3:56 behind race leader Vincenzo Nibali (Astana Pro Team).