Cavendish wins 15th stage, Voeckler keeps yellow

Britain’s Mark Cavendish continued his domination of the Tour de France sprint stages yesterday by claiming his fourth win of the race to take his career tally to an unrivalled 19 on stage 15.

France’s Thomas Voeckler, of the Europcar team, remained in the yellow jersey after the mainly flat but wind-buffeted ride over 193km from Limoux to Montpellier which had the overall contenders fighting for survival.

Voeckler maintained his 1min 49sec lead on Luxembourg’s Frank Schleck, with Australian Cadel Evans in third at 2:06.

Andy Schleck, the runner-up the past two years, is fourth at 2:15 while three-time and reigning champion Alberto Contador of Spain is seventh at 4:00.

Cavendish meanwhile showed that when his team are in control, he is virtually unstoppable.

After a strong ride by his HTC team, which helped chase down an earlier five-man breakaway and then countered a late move by Philippe Gilbert, Cavendish was quick to share the plaudits.

“I don’t think there’s been one of my 19 wins that I’ve done alone, and that just shows the commitment those guys have towards me and I’m incredibly lucky for that,” said Cavendish.

“I crossed the finish line first but it’s not just me. I did 200 metres today in a 200 km stage. The team rode and delivered me to the line. I’m incredibly proud to be associated with them.”

Today is the second rest day of the race, which resumes tomorrow with a hilly 162.5km ride from Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux to Gap on stage 16.

Voeckler is likely to keep the yellow jersey at least until then, however despite punching above his weight to keep the lead in the Pyrenees the Frenchman said he is under no illusions.

He said: “I give myself zero per cent chance of winning the Tour de France.”