Former teammate settles score at Tour de France

Mark Cavendish met his match on Tuesday when he was overtaken by former teammate Andre Greipel, left, by less than a wheel length at the end of Stage 10 of the Tour de France.

The sprint followed a lumpy 99-mile stage from Aurillac to Carmaux that saw the sprinters struggle to stay with the peloton as Phillippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma) set a torrid pace in the closing kilometers.

France's Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) survived easily in the yellow jersey, even helping Gilbert set the pace in their attack near the finish.

First Tour victory

Germany's Greipel (Omega) now has 77 career wins, but this was his first at the Tour de France.

It might seem surprising that a sprinter with such a successful career would just be winning his first Tour de France stage.

It turns out that both Cavendish and Greipel used to both race for HTC-Highroad and team managers either didn't pick him for the Tour or ordered him to ride in support of Cavendish.

Omega-Pharma did a lot of work in the closing miles of the race, doing its best to put Greipel in a position to win.

Breakaway

A six-man breakaway got away early in the hilly stage. Of that bunch, Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil) was the last to survive as the Omega-Pharma peloton drove the peloton toward the finish as HTC-Highroad's famous lead-out train got derailed early.

Omega's Gilbert participated in a late attack with five other cyclists, including Voeckler, but they disappeared into the peloton with about 3 miles remaining.

As the sprinters came to the front, Cavendish took off early but faded to Greipel right before the finish line. Jose Rojas (Movistar) finish third followed by Thor Hushovd (Garmin Cervelo) in fourth.

Top 10 overall

1. Thomas Voeckler (Europcar)
2. Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) — 1:49 behind
3. Cadel Evans (BMC) — 2:26
4. Frank Schleck (Leopard-Trek) — 2:29
5. Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek) — 2:37
6. Tony Martin (HTC Highroad) — 2:38
7. Peter Velits (HTC Highroad) — 2:38
8. Andreas Kloden (RadioShack) — 2:43
9. Phillippe Gilbert (Omega) — 2:55
10. Jakob Fuglesang (Leopard-Trek) — 3:08