2010 Tour de France stage 11 results.

Renshaw kicked out of race

For most people, 13 is an unlucky number. Fabian Cancellara famously wears the dossard bearing that numeral upside down to avoid its potential misfortune. This afternoon in Bourg-lès-Valence however, it was a lucky number for Mark Cavendish as he took his 13th win and went into the history books - he has now won the most Tour de France stages of any current sprinter. The stage was overshadowed when Cavendish's teammate, Mark Renshaw, was thrown out of the race for head-butting Julian Dean (Garmin-Transitions)

However, by winning Cavendish has beaten the record held by his mentor, Erik Zabel, who previously held the record whilst a professional, with 12 stage wins in la grande boucle. Cavendish did it in the style to which we've become accustomed, the HTC-Columbia sprinter continuing to gain confidence in this year's race after a shaky start.

He had to go from a long way out to earn the victory though, courtesy of a coming together between Antipodean duo Mark Renshaw and Julian Dean in the final 500 metres. In a sign of his increasing sprinting maturity, Cavendish saw the opportunity to dash for double the distance he normally would - almost 400 metres - and backed himself to get the job done.

"Julian came and he was fighting with Mark at the finish and it left me boxed in - if he'd have pushed him across, as soon as I saw a gap I had to go," said Cavendish after the finish.

"Normally I go with 200 or 250 [metres] maximum and at 375 metres to go I saw a gap... it wasn't so much a sprint but a little breakaway, well, by my standards anyway! It was hard, actually... It was a really, really long way to the finish - I thought somebody would be on my wheel and come around, but they didn't," he explained.

And while both Dean and Renshaw are laid back guys off the bike, they gnashed their teeth with some mutual head butting preventing the pair heading too close to the barriers as the New Zealander came towards his Australian counterpart with Cavendish on the wheel.

"I don't know whether Tyler [Farrar] was with Julian, maybe he thought Tyler was with him... otherwise he was just trying to put Mark off," continued Cavendish, who had a back seat view of the incident before jetting off for the stage win. "Like I said, if Julian was [coming across intentionally] it shut the door and I could't go - maybe that's what he was doing: trying to shut the door for me."

After another day of toil from Bob Stapleton's men that reaped the ultimate reward - another stage win - Cavendish paid tribute to the riders who displayed an amazing amount of calmness under fire this afternoon and helped him to his record-breaking victory. "We can just see how good Mark is - he's fighting [for me] and he's an incredible guy, a great guy and I'm so lucky to have him and all the guys, actually," he said.

Yet Cavendish will be without his brother-in-arms for the remainder of the race. The judges saw the incident with Dean quite differently, and disqualified Renshaw from the race for head-butting Dean in the sprint. This leaves HTC-Columbia lacking an important weapon in the battle for the green jersey.

While there were no changes to the overall standings, the complexion of the points classification changed significantly, with Alessandro Petacchi reclaiming the maillot vert and Cavendish now trailing the Italian by a mere 29 points. Thor Hushovd drops to second in the battle for green. Surely this is a sub plot of this year's Tour that will be altered all the way to the final day in Paris.

Like a bird on the wire...

After yesterday's unofficial rest day the peloton would be looking to take a little more respite from this transitional stage that shuffled riders along from Sisteron to Bourg-lès-Valence over 184.5km. Therefore the plan was simple: give the break an early start, leave it enough rope (so to speak) and shoot it down when the time was right.

Knowing that this would likely be the plan, Anthony Geslin (Française des Jeux), Stephane Augé (Cofidis) and Jose-Alberto Benitez (Footon-Servetto) attacked from the first kilometre of racing and established a lead of 4:15 after 40km. Unlike yesterday's stage however, there was no real chance it would survive to the finish but the leading trio was happy with the status quo, it seemed.

Keen to make what he could of the day's only categorised climb, mountains classification leader Jérôme Pineau added a single point to his lead in the standings, taking the last available point on offer with the break 3:16 ahead and ensuring he's be on the podium at day's end with a polka dot jersey on his back.

Having survived the Alpine onslaught of the past five days, HTC-Columbia's usual express service was resumed on the journey into the Drôme department of the Rhône-Alpes region and despite the break's advantage rarely dropping below two minutes for much of the stage it never reached any great heights.

The escape enjoyed a gap that hovered between two and three minutes thanks largely to the work done by the aforementioned workhorses of HTC-Columbia and the planning from their team car.

With 84km to go and the riders heading through Die the gap had been reduced to 1:32, although that shot back up to two minutes eight kilometres later when it was realised the break would be caught too soon at this rate.

David Zabriskie could be seen supplementing HTC-Columbia's work in the second half of the stage; it was all hands on deck for Jonathan Vaughters' team as Garmin-Transitions and Tyler Farrar had lost another ally before the start in Sisteron, with Robbie Hunter withdrawing due to injuries suffered in a crash yesterday.

Managing the minute margin

To avoid potential counter attacks and a disrupted lead in to Valence, Garmin-Transitions, HTC-Columbia and Lampre-Farnese Vini were maintaining the break's advantage to a manageable minute as the leaders had 45km left to race. Five kilometres later an attempted counter attack, in sight of the leading trio, forced the break's advantage below a minute and put the sprinters' teams on notice that they may not have everything their own way in the final part of the stage.

The final 30 kilometres were punctuated by a significant headwind, the perfect ground for a former time trial world champion to pull along the peloton, and that's exactly what Bert Grabsch did for his British sprinting star behind. Meanwhile, ahead of them attacks were beginning amongst the leading trio as Augé tried his luck, although Benitez and Geslin were having nothing of it, the former launching his own sortie with the main field breathing down the escapees' necks.

It only served to delay the inevitable and shortly after the main field passed the 25km-to-go banner it was lights out for Augé and Benitez with Geslin conceding defeat, his job of playing promo guy done for the day. It wasn't the earliest catch of any sprint stage at this year's Tour, giving the opportunists ample time to disrupt the best laid plans of those who were hoping to lead out their sprinter in the fast finale.

Fierce crosswinds on the final 17km meant that Saxo Bank got to the front of the field quickly to protect Andy Schleck as RadioShack did likewise for its man Levi Leipheimer. The protective custody for some of the leading general classification riders worked in favour of the sprinters' teams as it kept affairs together to avoid any dangerous moves from those who had their hearts set on glory.

Flying into Bourg-lès-Valence, the strung out peloton was still led by Saxo Bank with 10km remaining, the likes of Cancellara, Fuglsang and Voigt doing what was required to keep their man safe; four kiometres later, their jobs completed, they handed over the reins of the peloton to HTC-Columbia, whose time it was to take over and begin the lead out for Cavendish.

Again the spoiling tactics employed by Lampre-Farnese Vini during the Tour's opening week sprints were used by the Italian squad, putting men in front of the American team shortly before the five-to-go banner. Petacchi's men, plus Team Sky and Garmin-Transitions were all were hoping to disrupt the 'Yellow Train' but to his credit, engine driver Bernhard Eisel maintained the momentum of his charges with a massive tailwind not assisting their cause because the high speeds involved kept the contenders in with a chance.

When it counted, like so many times in recent history however, HTC-Columbia held its nerve and delivered Cavendish to the line thanks to Eisel and Renshaw in the final kilometres. Winding their way through the best passages that emerged at the head of proceedings - through the middle, to the left, to the right... wherever a gap appeared, the men in yellow and white seemed to be there to get the job done.

All that was required to finish the tale was a long sprint from the Manxman, and he turned on the gas for almost 400 metres - his most confident and accomplished performance of this year's Tour - to easily see off any challenge from Petacchi, Farrar and José Rojas, who finished second, third and fourth respectively.
Full Results
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team HTC - Columbia 4:42:29
2 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
3 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin - Transitions
4 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
5 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Team Katusha
6 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
7 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team
8 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
9 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
10 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram
11 Sébastien Turgot (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
12 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling Team
13 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank
14 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
15 Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
16 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team Milram
17 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
18 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick Step
19 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
20 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Lampre-Farnese Vini
21 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram
22 Daniel Lloyd (GBr) Cervelo Test Team
23 Julian Dean (NZl) Garmin - Transitions
24 Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
25 George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team
26 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Milram
27 Alexandr Pliuschin (Mda) Team Katusha
28 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
29 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Cervelo Test Team
30 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Team HTC - Columbia
31 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo
32 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team HTC - Columbia
33 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
34 Juan Manuel Gárate Cepa (Spa) Rabobank
35 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Garmin - Transitions
36 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
37 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank
38 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
39 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana
40 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana
41 Thomas Löfkvist (Swe) Sky Professional Cycling Team
42 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank
43 Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Astana
44 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Team Radioshack
45 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step
46 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack
47 Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
48 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Team Milram
49 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Sky Professional Cycling Team
50 Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank
51 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux
52 Julien El Farès (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
53 Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
54 Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
55 David Millar (GBr) Garmin - Transitions
56 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha
57 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervelo Test Team
58 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team HTC - Columbia
59 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Team Katusha
60 Michael Barry (Can) Sky Professional Cycling Team
61 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Française des Jeux
62 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step
63 Benoït Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux
64 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Omega Pharma-Lotto
65 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank
66 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
67 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Team Radioshack
68 Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
69 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
70 Damien Monier (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
71 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
72 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
73 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
74 Maarten Wijnants (Bel) Quick Step
75 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux
76 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Caisse d'Epargne
77 Grégory Rast (Swi) Team Radioshack
78 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Transitions
79 Mario Aerts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
80 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
81 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
82 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne
83 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank
84 Steven Cummings (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team
85 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux
86 Thomas Rohregger (Aut) Team Milram
87 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
88 Mathieu Perget (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne
89 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team Katusha
90 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
91 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank
92 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Cervelo Test Team
93 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Omega Pharma-Lotto
94 Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
95 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana
96 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
97 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team
98 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Team Radioshack
99 Alan Perez Lezaun (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
100 Iban Velasco Murillo (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
101 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team
102 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Team Katusha
103 Andreas Klier (Ger) Cervelo Test Team
104 Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (Por) Caisse d'Epargne
105 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
106 Arkaitz Duran Daroca (Spa) Footon-Servetto
107 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
108 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
109 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Quick Step
110 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Team Milram
111 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini 0:00:22
112 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Sky Professional Cycling Team 0:00:27
113 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Française des Jeux 0:00:29
114 Lance Armstrong (USA) Team Radioshack
115 Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack
116 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank
117 Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
118 Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre-Farnese Vini 0:00:47
119 Simon Spilak (Slo) Lampre-Farnese Vini
120 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin - Transitions 0:00:59
121 Francesco Bellotti (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo 0:01:02
122 Tony Martin (Ger) Team HTC - Columbia 0:01:09
123 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:01:26
124 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana 0:01:39
125 Adriano Malori (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini 0:01:40
126 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Cervelo Test Team 0:01:44
127 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Team Radioshack 0:02:10
128 Francis De Greef (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:02:29
129 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank 0:03:04
130 Stéphane Auge (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne 0:03:43
131 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Team HTC - Columbia
132 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo 0:04:41
133 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
134 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Team Saxo Bank
135 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank
136 Chris Anker Sørensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank
137 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana
138 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Cervelo Test Team
139 Anthony Roux (Fra) Française des Jeux 0:05:05
140 Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo Bank 0:07:41
141 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team Saxo Bank
142 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Quick Step
143 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
144 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) BMC Racing Team
145 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
146 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team
147 Brian Vandborg (Den) Liquigas-Doimo
148 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team HTC - Columbia
149 Alexander Kuschynski (Blr) Liquigas-Doimo
150 David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin - Transitions
151 Kristjan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Doimo
152 Sergio Paulinho (Por) Team Radioshack
153 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Doimo
154 Francesco Reda (Ita) Quick Step
155 Jose Alberto Benitez Roman (Spa) Footon-Servetto
156 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Team Katusha
157 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Footon-Servetto
158 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Footon-Servetto
159 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Astana
160 Aitor Perez Arrieta (Spa) Footon-Servetto
161 Karsten Kroon (Ned) BMC Racing Team
162 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
163 Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Spa) Astana
164 David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Astana
165 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
166 Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team
167 Amaël Moinard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
168 Rémy Di Grégorio (Fra) Française des Jeux
169 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
170 Iban Mayoz Echeverria (Spa) Footon-Servetto
171 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
172 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux
173 Kevin Seeldrayers (Bel) Quick Step
174 Dimitri Champion (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
175 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step
176 Christophe Kern (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
177 Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Omega Pharma-Lotto
178 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
DSQ Mark Renshaw (Aus) Team HTC - Columbia
DNS Charles Wegelius (GBr) Omega Pharma-Lotto
DNS Robert Hunter (RSA) Garmin - Transitions