Cavendish bursts clear to triumph

The 164.5km stage from Carhaix to Cap Frehel on the Brittany coast saw Janez Brajkovic taken to hospital after crashing out of the Tour and Nicki Sorensen, the Danish champion, pulled down by a photographer’s motorbike.

Sorensen’s team leader Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard) and Team Sky’s Bradley Wiggins were also among those to fall, while Tom Boonen (QuickStep) had a heavy tumble on the tarmac and suffered for much of the day.

The finale along narrow, undulating roads was always going to be challenging and so it proved, with numerous attacks attempted and foiled as the stage ended in a sprint finish.

After his HTC-Highroad team-mate Tony Martin led the peloton into the final straight, Cavendish came from well down to accelerate around the peloton, including Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas, to take the 16th Tour stage success of his career.

Stage one winner Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) was second, with Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) third and Thomas fifth.

The overall rankings were unchanged with Thor Hushovd retaining the race leader’s yellow jersey.

Wiggins came off relatively unscathed from his fall, merely requiring a bike change and five team-mates to help him return to the peloton following his spill.

The crashes came in a frantic spell which included the day’s intermediate sprint – something else which was full of incident.

After the four escapees took the first points available, Borut Bozic led the peloton over the line, but only after Cavendish had been squeezed out of contention.

The Briton’s bid to claim the points classification leader’s green jersey was dented by rival sprinters Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) and Boonen.

Rojas, the green jersey incumbent, and Boonen could yet find themselves relegated for obstructing their rival after moving to the left of the road, nudging the Manxman out of contention.

Cavendish sat up, rolling over the intermediate sprint line, but would stand to benefit if either Boonen or Rojas are docked points.

Cavendish, who later compared the surprise win with his 2009 success in Aubenas, accused former team-mate Andre Greipel of striking him.

Cavendish said: “Maybe people don’t like my character so they try to do things not in a sporting way by disqualifying me or taking points from me.”

Cavendish was later asked to expand on his point, but stopped short. He added: “If I go into that, we won’t get out of here tonight. But it’s what makes me tick.”