Tour of Britain: Andre Greipel wins as Edvald Boasson Hagen holds lead

Andre Greipel (second left) beat Elia Viviani (right) in a photo finish on stage seven of the Tour of Britain

Andre Greipel beat Elia Viviani in a photo finish to win stage seven of the Aviva Tour of Britain as Edvald Boasson Hagen retained his overall lead.

Greipel (Lotto Soudal) led out the sprint in Ipswich and although Viviani (Team Sky) came around him and looked to have edged ahead at the line, the German was awarded the victory by the narrowest of margins.

Boasson Hagen (MTN-Qhubeka) followed in fifth on the day to remain 13 seconds ahead of second-placed Wout Poels (Team Sky) with just Sunday's eighth stage in London remaining.

Edvald Boasson Hagen retained his 13-second overall lead

Greipel said: "It was a close victory, but the photo finish was clear, I think. We took control of the race from the beginning. I think we deserved the victory."

Stage seven's 227.4km route - the longest of this year's race - contained three small climbs but did not offer much scope for Poels to attack Boasson Hagen, and Team Sky consequently focused their efforts leading Viviani out for the sprint.

Stage seven took the riders 227.4km from Fakenham to Ipswich

The final day of the race will see the peloton race 14 laps of a flat, 6.2km circuit in central London. Although there are bonus seconds on offer at intermediate sprints and the finish line, it would take a remarkable performance from Poels to overhaul Boasson Hagen, who is the superior sprinter of the two.

Should Boasson Hagen prevail, he would become the first rider to win the Tour of Britain twice, following a previous triumph in 2009.

Stage seven result

1 Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal, 5:14:42

2 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky, same time

3 Sondre Holst Enger (Nor) Katusha, st

4 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Etixx - Quick-Step, st

5 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) MTN-Qhubeka, st

6 Owain Doull (GB) WIGGINS, st

7 Rasmus Guldhammer (Den) Cult Energy, st

8 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) IAM Cycling, st

9 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale-Garmin, st

10 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Soudal, st

General classification

1 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) MTN-Qhubeka, 33:02:36

2 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky, +13

3 Rasmus Gulhammer (Den) Cult Energy, +43

4 Owain Doull (GB) Team Wiggins, +44

5 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx-Quick-Step, +51

6 Ruben Fernandez (Esp) Movistar, st

7 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, st

8 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale-Garmin, +59

9 Chris Anker Sorensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo, st

10 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) An Post-Chain Reaction, +1:02