Rose Cantine

Mark Cavendish wins stage 11 of Tour de France 2010 (photo: Reuters)

Another victorious stage for Cavendish and it wasn’t even close. In a post-race interview, Cavendish remarked: “It was really more like a breakaway than a sprint, at least for me.” Cavendish has won 3 stages in this year’s Tour de France, making it his 13th Tour de France win (beating the record of Erik Zabel, his coach at HTC Columbia). Andy Schleck keeps the maillot jaune. Alessandro Petacchi surprisingly takes the green jersey (from Thor Hushovd).

UPDATE: Oh no, Mark Renshaw, who has been crucial in protecting Cavendish and getting him in the right spot to finish first, has been kicked out of the Tour for head-butting Julian Dean in the final seconds of the race, so as not to allow Dean to get his teammate, Tyler Farrar, in position. This is a very unfair decision, in my view, absolutely excessive. Remember only a few days ago, two riders – Barredo and Costa – were beating up one another after the race. They got away with fines.

Notes about this stage from Sisteron to Bourg-Les-Valence: The scenery changes from Alpine to Mediterranean, from lush steep mountainsides to dry, shrubby plains and valleys, with craggy hillsides topped by ruins of  fortified batiments and towers. The peloton rode past endless fields of lavender and sunflowers. The area is north of Avignon and the Luberon.

Andy Schleck in the yellow jersey after stage 9, Tour de France 2010

Finally, Andy Schleck is in the yellow jersey. Cadel Evans had to give it up after a terrible finish in today’s ninth stage (Morzine-Avoriaz to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne) which featured climbs up the Col de la Madeleine and Col de la Colombiere. It turns out that Evans was riding with a fractured elbow and the pain must have been immense! Evans has little chance of winning the Tour this year even though he entered it as one of the favorites and even got the yellow jersey last Sunday. Evans is 7 minutes and 47 seconds behind Andy in the general classement.

The battle is now between Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck who rode up the last climb, the Col de la Madeleine, together and finished very close in time. Contador trails Schleck by only 41 seconds in the general classement. I am looking forward to an epic battle!

Andy Schleck wins stage 8 Tour de France 2010

What an exciting finish in today’s punishing mountain stage from Station des Rousses to Morzine-Avoriaz! This area is a popular ski resort with two category 1 climbs, the Col de la Ramaz (9 percent grade) and Morzine-Avoriaz (at the end). This stage covered 189 kilometers. Andy Schleck (Team Saxo Bank) battled it out in the last minute with Sammy Sanchez (Euskatel-Euskadi) and powered past him to win. Robert Gesink (Rabobank) came in third place. Below are the individual standings for stage 8.

Tour de France 2010 stage 8 individual standings

Cadel Evans (BMC) takes the yellow jersey for the first time in this Tour, leading Andy Schleck (20 seconds behind) and Alberto Contador (Astana) (1 minute, 1 second behind). I was shocked to see Contador not challenge Schleck and Sanchez when the two men began pulling away towards the end of the race. Contador is the favorite to win this year’s Tour de France and his team, Astana, performed superbly today. Perhaps he’s conserving his strength for the other mountain stages, notably the Pyrenees.

Stage 8 Tour de France 2010 general standings

The other surprise of the day is Lance Armstrong’s very “un-Armstrong” like performance. He fell twice, faded away on the way up the Col de la Ramaz, and ended up in 39th place out of 50 riders, 13 minutes and 26 seconds behind Cadel Evans. It is highly unlikely Armstrong will pull his 8th Tour de France win. Of course, if by divine intervention, the 38 other riders are attacked by a pack of wild boar or get hit by lightning in the Pyrenees, then Lance will truly make history.

Lance Armstrong in 39th place at stage 8 Tour de France 2010

Temperatures flared at stage 6 of the Tour de France 2010 when, after the race was over, Carlos Barredo (Quick Step) and Rui Costa (Caisse d’Epargne) began fighting one another over an alleged violent elbow thrown by Costa into Barredo’s ribs, nearly causing the latter to fall. Both riders were fined 400 Swiss francs (just about the only currency that’s not depreciating these days).