Former teammates – now rivals – face off in sprint sequel

Mark Cavendish and Andre Greipel went at it again in the final sprint in Stage 11 of the Tour de France on Wednesday, but this time Cavendish's lead-out companions were with him to clear the way to victory.

The “Manx Missile's” 18th career stage win at the Tour de France (his third this year) followed a narrow defeat in Stage 10 at the hands of former teammate and rival Greipel (Omega Pharma).

After the race, Cavendish said he had “redeemed” himself.

Meanwhile, France's Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) finished in the pack and
retained the yellow jersey. His 1:49 margin over the field will be
challenged on Thursday when the peloton rides into the Pyrenees.

Contest

In the previous stage, Cavendish's HTC-Highroad teammate and final lead-out man Mark Renshaw fell off the pace on a climb and couldn't help the sprint champion in the finish. The victory went to Greipel, his first at the Tour. Although a strong sprinter, he had to take a back seat to Cavendish when both were members of the Highroad cycling squad.

Renshaw was there on Wednesday, however, and Cavendish followed him in the closing meters with American Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervelo) on his rear wheel. With Cavendish accelerating to the front, Greipel passed Farrar but finished more than a bike length behind Cavendish.

The British cyclist also took the green points jersey on Wednesday.

Halfway

The 168km (104 miles) route from Blaye-les-Mines to Lavaur marked the halfway stage of the Tour de France and one of the last stages where sprinters can compete.

Six men — Ruben Perez Moreno (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Lars Boom (Rabobank), Andriy
Grivko (Astana), Mickael Delage (FDJ), Tristan Valentin (Cofidis) and
Jimmy Engoulvent (Saur-Sojasun) — attacked about 10km into the race and stayed out front until the final 3k.

Even then, Boom extended the drama for nearly another kilometer by attacking his breakaway mates in the pouring rain.

Chase

US-registered cycling team HTC-Highroad had done most of the work at the front of the peloton to bring back the breakaway, but couldn't close down the last 30 seconds until Lampre came to the front to help out in an attempt to give Alessandro Petacchi a chance in the sprint.

As soon as they caught the break, Garmin-Cervelo went to the front to set the pace for Farrar. Some Sky cyclists also joined the mix at the front, but HTC-Highroad's Renshaw set it up perfectly for Cavendish. 

Top 10 overall1. 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