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Cavendish aims for revenge after Greipel victory
The Manxman is beaten by his old team mate, but has another chance before Tour hits the mountains
Britain's Mark Cavendish will have the chance to atone for a rare defeat against Andre Greipel in Wednesday's 11th stage of the Tour de France. Cavendish lost out to his former HTC teammate in Tuesday's 10th stage after a gripping sprint finish at the end of the 158km ride from Aurillac to Carmaux.
Cavendish had looked odds-on to add another stage win to the two he notched up last week but Greipel timed his attack to perfection, surging past the Manxman rider with 25 metres left to finish first in three hours 31 minutes 21 seconds. Cavendish was second, while Frenchman Thomas Voeckler retained his race leader's yellow jersey and is one minute 49 seconds ahead of Luis Leon Sanchez in second.
"It's the moment I've been waiting for all year," said Greipel, who left HTC last year for the Omega Pharma-Lotto team. "It's the most beautiful race in the world and the most famous. To win here is sensational." Cavendish was grim-faced after losing out to the German rider by a wheel length. The pair aren't the best of friends and in an interview last year Cavendish dismissed Greipel, saying: "He's not a problem because I'm a better rider... me on bad form is still better than him."
The 11th stage takes the peloton 167.5km from Blaye les Mines to Lavaur on a largely flat route with the final 2km a straight finish for the sprinters. "This stage should suit Mark better," said HTC sports director Allan Peiper.
On Thursday the Tour enters the Pyrenees for three stages of mountain racing where the likes of three-times champion Alberto Contador and last year's runner up Andy Schleck were expected to come to prominence in pre-Tour predictions. But while Schleck is looking strong in fifth place overall, just 2min 37 seconds behind Voeckler, Contador is struggling with a knee injury and on Tuesday night denied he might be about to quit the race. "I don't think I'll be going home, not before the end of the Tour de France," said Contador, adding: "I will do everything possible to achieve my goal which is to fight for overall victory in Paris."
Meanwhile Alexandr Kolobnev has proclaimed his innocence following his withdrawal from the Tour after a positive dope test. The 30-year-old Russian – winner of an Olympic bronze in the 2008 road race – tested positive for hydrochlorothiazide and was subsequently pulled from the Tour on Monday by his Katusha team. But Kolobnev denied he was guilty of doping, saying: "I do not know where it comes from."
While Kolobnev waits for the results of his B test, Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said that he was pleased with the cooperation among the various anti-doping agencies in their campaign to clean the Tour. "Fighting against doping is extremely complicated but it is much easier when it is done together," he said. ·
