Germany's Tony Martin has won Stage 4 of the Tour de France to take control of the race leader's yellow jersey.

It means Team Sky's Chris Froome has lost control of it for now and finds himself 12 seconds adrift in the overall classification.

Martin staged a late break for the line with just three kilometres to go after a tough day that brought the riders over a series of cobblestone sections in northern France.

Ireland's Dan Martin was involved in a minor crash today and has now slipped to 35th place overall, nearly eight minutes off the pace.