TALAVERA DE LA REINA, Spain (Reuters) - Up-and-coming German sprinter Marcel Kittel's first victory in a Grand Tour was overshadowed by a mass pileup in the final kilometre of the Tour of Spain's 182.9-km seventh stage on Friday.

Italians Vincenzo Nibali, last year's race winner, and Michele Scarponi, Spain's Joaquim Rodriguez and Belgian Juergen Van Den Broeck fell in a crash caused when American Tyler Farrar collided with fellow sprinter Michal Golas of Poland.

One of the worst affected was 2011 Tour de France stage winner Farrar. He was unable to put any weight on his left foot and pedalled with one leg as he crossed the line.

He then clutched his left hip and needed to be held up by two Garmin-Cervelo team mates as he limped to a waiting ambulance.

Most of the riders involved suffered minor injuries but Scarponi shouted in pain when doctors attempted to touch his left ankle while Nibali had a nasty scrape on his left thigh.

Overall leader Sylvain Chavanel of France and 22nd-placed Briton Bradley Wiggins were two overall contenders not affected by the crash which took place so close to the line all those involved were awarded the same time.

Skil-Shimano rider Kittel said he was too far ahead in the bunch to even hear the crash as he powered to his 13th victory of the season, ahead of Slovakian Peter Sagan and Spain's Oscar Freire.

"I only found out about the crash when I crossed the line," first-year professional Kittel, 23, told reporters.