While he may have suffered like a beast over the climbs of the Pyrenees over the weekend The Missile is back! The tour returned to the flat on Bastille Day for Stage 10, a 194.5km route from Limoges to Issoudon, and that meant the return of Mark Cavendish. And I bet nothing would have riled the French more than a win from a Brit on their national day. As he has on each of the three flat stages so far in 2009, The Manx Man was simply too fast for his rivals, out-sprinting them for his third stage win of this years Tour.
Thor Hushovd again showed that he continues to be the most consistent rider at this years Tour, finishing second, and holding onto his green jersey by just 6 seconds. Up and coming American sprinter Tyler Farrar also managed to get himself another podium position finishing third on the stage, to move up to 5th in the points classification.
There was a moment of danger for some of the GC contenders with the peleton splitting in two on the run in to the finish. But from the big boys it was only Levi Leipheimer who missed out, finishing in the second group and losing 15 seconds to the winner. This has seen him slip from 4th to 5th overall, equal on time with teammate Andreas Kloden and 54 seconds behind race leader Rinaldo Noncentini who held the yellow-jersey for another day. Bradley Wiggins also missed the split and dropped from 5th to 7th overall. However, the biggest disaster may have been for team Saxo and Andy Schleck, with one of the leading strongmen on the team, Kurt Asle-Arvesen, crashing and breaking his collarbone. While the Norwegian national champion finished the stage, he must be in some doubt of starting the race tomorrow.
Yellow Jersey - Rinaldo Noncentini
Green Jersey - Thor Husvhod
Polka Dot Jersey - Egoi Martinez
White Jersey - Tony Martin
Photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports.
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