LE HAVRE, France -- Tour de France leader Tony Martin had to pull out of the race after breaking his collarbone in a crash that he caused late in Thursday's sixth stage.
The crash also dragged down defending champion Vincenzo Nibali and fellow Tour contender Nairo Quintana, but they escaped with cuts and bruises.
A spokesman for the Etixx-Quick Step team said Martin, who was not considered a contender for the overall victory as he's not a strong mountain climber, would not continue in the race. He is the second race leader to pull out in only six days after Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara fractured two vertebrae in his lower back in Monday's crash-marred third stage.
Martin lost control of his bike with about 900 metres to go of Thursday's stage. It swerved to the right, clipped another bike and then brought down some eight other riders, including Nibali and Colombian climbing ace Quintana, who both finished the stage. Czech rider Zdenek Stybar rode away amid the chaos to clinch his first Tour stage win.
Unable to hold his handlebar, with his left arm in a sling position, Martin rolled slowly over the line with several teammates alongside him.
With Martin out, British rider Chris Froome, the 2013 Tour champion, moves into the overall lead.
Three significant crashes have marred the race so far. Two-time Tour champion Alberto Contador of Spain and Froome have escaped all of them -- although the British rider almost fell when Nibali's bike swerved into his.
In the confusion, Nibali actually thought Froome was to blame.
Then, after Froome came to Nibali's Astana team bus to clear things up, the Italian rider performed a swift U-turn and apologized to his Tour rival.
"I was very upset with him. But then, after watching the video I said sorry to him," Nibali said. "I moved right, (into) Froome, thought it was his fault. Did we clear it all up? Yeah. We are not footballers, we are cyclists."
With bikes piled up and riders slowing down, Stybar rode ahead while Martin sat up on the side of the road.
When Stybar looked over his shoulder no one was behind him. Slovak Peter Sagan, chasing a fourth straight green jersey as the Tour's best sprinter, finished in second place, two seconds behind.
"I don't get it yet that I have won a stage on the Tour," said the 29-year-old Stygar, a former Cyclo-cross rider who is Martin's teammate on the Etixx Quick-Step team.
"It's an amazing feeling, but on the other hand I feel really sorry for Tony," Stygar said. "It's the Tour de France; it's just crazy, crazy. You don't know what will happen around each corner."
Quintana had blood dripping from his right arm and elbow as he crossed the line.
"I don't think it's very serious," said Quintana, the 2013 Tour runner-up.
Froome was relieved to come through the melee with just a minor graze to his knee.
Froome leads Contador by 36 seconds; Nibali by 1:38 and Quintana by 1:56.
It's been a painful Tour so far for many of the riders.
Australian rider Michael Matthews finished Thursday's ride despite having two broken ribs sustained on the third stage. He is in last place overall.
Early into Thursday's stage, Eritrean rider Daniel Teklehaimanot, Frenchman Perrig Quemeneur, and Belgian Kenneth Vanbilsen formed an early breakaway group.
Teklehaimanot scored points in the battle for the King of the Mountains jersey, meaning he will wear the famed polka-dot jersey on stage 7.
"It's huge for African sport," said Teklehaimanot, the first rider Eritrean to ride in the Tour.
Bruised and tired from five days of heat, ferocious winds -- those scary crashes -- and lashing rain, the peloton was in no mood to go quickly, rolling at a meagre average of 38.4 kilometres (23.6) per hour as the riders passed through the Picardy region of northern France and into Normandy.
Teklehaimanot and Quemeneur were caught with about nine kilometres (5.6 miles) to go, while Van Bilsen held on until 3 kilometres (2 miles) from the line as the peloton accelerated.
Martin, his yellow jersey shining, moved near to the front in order to put teammate Mark Cavendish in a good position to attack.
Moments later, he was sitting against a railing, staring at the wreckage of another crash as the dazed riders looked around for their bikes.
Friday's seventh stage is another for sprinters. It starts from Livarot in the Normandy region -- home to a cheese of the same name -- and ends 190.5 kilometres (118 miles) later in Fougeres, nestled in the Brittany region.
AP Sports Writer Samuel Petrequin contributed to this report.
