André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) proved his worth as the most in-form sprinter in the Tour de France as he took his second stage win of the race's opening week.
Greipel saw off the challenge of his rivals Mark Cavendish (Etixx-QuickStep) and Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) on the stage to Amiens as he tightened his hold on the green points jersey.
His compatriot Tony Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) retained the overall lead, 12 seconds ahead of Chris Froome (Sky).
The race began in dramatic fashion, with a number of crashes as riders struggled to get to grips with the treacherous conditions. Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) and Jack Bauer (Cannondale-Garmin) both withdrew after sustaining injuries in separate spills, while Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) hit the deck but managed to chase back to the main group.
Around halfway through the stage, the headwinds which had buffeted the riders suddenly became crosswinds, which caused chaos in the peloton. The main field split in two, with some high profile names, including Wilco Kelderman (LottoNL-Jumbo), Richie Porte and Peter Kennaugh (Sky), and Ryder Hesjedal (Cannondale-Garmin).
Despite the best efforts of the second group on the road, the front pack set a high tempo and would eventually finish more than 14 minutes ahead of those behind.
Going into the inevitable bunch sprint at the finish it was the yellow jersey of Martin who led things out as he attempted to set up his team-mate Cavendish for the win, but the Manx Missile lost the wheel of Mark Renshaw and was always on the back foot.
Aleexander Kristoff (Katusha), along with Cavendish and Arnaud Dèmare (FDJ), started their sprints early, but Greipel came from a long way back to round all three and take his second win of the Tour.
The Tour de France continus on Thursday with a 191.5 kilometre stage from Abbeville to Le Havre.