Freire (centre) was among those to crash

World champion Oscar Freire ended up in a ditch in that same crash and was even further off the pace.

As the riders geared up for a bunch sprint Mapei's Pedro Horillo looked to have done enough for the stage victory.

But McGee, who was also involved in the crash chaos, pulled level and then clear on the steep incline in the final kilometre.

It proved enough for the Australian to hold off Jaan Kirsipuu in second place and Horillo back in third.

Afterwards McGee, a former track sprinter, said his victory was only partly due to confidence.

He said: "Yeah, of course I'm pretty confident, but I've got patience more than anything to thank for this win."

Francaise des Jeux team boss Marc Madiot was quick to praise the sprinter.

He said: "That's five years we've been waiting for a stage win on the Tour.

Gonzalez de Galdeano remains in yellow

"We've come second and third a few times but this is it. I knew we'd get a win on this Tour. It was just a question of going out and doing the job."

McGee's win, though, did not affect the men in yellow as Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano stayed out of trouble and held on to the overall lead.

For much of the day, the field was headed by yet another breakaway, this time courtesy of Franck Renier, Leon van Bon and Anthony Morin.

The trio made their initial attack at the 22km mark and at one stage pulled out a 5m 20s advantage.

The ONCE team moved to the front of the chasing pack in a bid to cut down the deficit and were joined by a number of the top sprinters' teams in a bid to break them down.

The field was finally reunited with three kilometres remaining.