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Frenchman Thomas Voeckler, of Europcar, retained the yellow jersey after the 167.5km stage from Blaye-les-Mines to Lavaur, which ended in a group sprint after an early breakaway was caught 4km from the finish.
Voeckler finished the stage with all the yellow jersey favourites to retain his lead of 1min 49sec on Spaniard Luis Leon Sanchez of Rabobank.
The biggest yellow jersey contenders, Cadel Evans, Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador, sit in third, fifth and 16th places respectively at 2:26, 2:37 and 4:07 behind Voeckler.
Despite a late burst of rain hindering the peloton's bid to catch a six-man breakaway that escaped inside the first 10km, Cavendish's HTC-Highroad were determined not to let the stage win slip away.
With Cavendish tipped for the win, they were given only scant help in the chase by rival sprinters' teams but in the end he was brought to the line in determined fashion by Australian lead-out man Mark Renshaw.
In a tense finale Greipel tried to get back on to Cavendish's wheel to launch a final burst, but as the German reached top-end speed Cavendish surged over the line to win by over a bike length.
After taking possession of the green jersey for the points competition from Belgian champion Philippe Gilbert, the 26-year-old from the Isle of Man was ecstatic.
"It's incredible to have the green jersey, it's the most beautiful jersey in the world," said Cavendish, who also won stage five in Cap Frehel and stage seven in Chateauroux.
"I have to thank my team-mates for the work they did today, even the guys who are in the top ten overall gave it one hundred percent and that shows what a great team we are."
Cavendish had been beaten to victory in stage 10 by Greipel as the German took his maiden win in the race on Tuesday.
Despite admitting the German's sprint was one of the "most technically perfect" he had seen, defeat only made him more determined.
"It was technically perfect," added Cavendish.
"But at dinner last night I spoke with the team and said to them I planned to go out and win tomorrow (Wednesday). It's as simple as that."
Despite another runner-up place to Cavendish, Greipel was satisfied with his effort - especially, he claimed, after Frenchman Romain Feillu tried to barge his lead-out man Jurgen Roelandts off the road.
"There was a big problem with Feillu. He deliberately tried to put Roelandts off the road," said the German.
"That's why it was such a long sprint, and also dangerous. But I'm happy with my second place today."
Thursday's 12th stage is the first of three in a row in the Pyrenees and is expected to host the first skirmishes in the yellow jersey battle between Contador, Schleck and Evans.
Schleck said: "I’m happy that these nervous kinds of stages are over and that we can now hit the mountains. It's a sense of relief to change to the small (chain) ring. We're in our terrain now."
Voeckler will wear the jersey at the start, but is not optimistic about keeping it after what should be a thrilling 211km of racing.
"If we lose the yellow jersey tomorrow then we'll do so knowing that we gave it everything. But to be honest, I fully expect to lose it tomorrow."
Dutchman Johnny Hoogerland, who had 33 stitches in leg wounds after being hit by a car on Sunday, is wearing the King of the Mountains' polka dot jersey.
Compatriot Robert Gesink, of Rabobank, is still in possession of the white jersey for the top-placed rider aged 25 and under.
Standings from the 11th stage of the Tour de France, a 167.5km ride from Blaye-les-Mines to Lavaur on Wednesday.
1. Mark Cavendish (GBR/HTC) 3hr 46min 07sec
2. André Greipel (GER/OLO) at 0:00.
3. Tyler Farrar (USA/GRM) 0:00.
4. Denis Galimzyanov (RUS/KAT) 0:00.
5. Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR/SKY) 0:00.
6. Romain Feillu (FRA/VAC) 0:00.
7. José Joaquin Rojas (ESP/MOV) 0:00.
8. Sébastien Turgot (FRA/EUC) 0:00.
9. Francisco Ventoso (ESP/MOV) 0:00.
10. William Bonnet (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.
11. Arnold Jeannesson (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.
12. Gerald Ciolek (GER/QST) 0:00.
13. Anthony Delaplace (FRA/SAU) 0:00.
14. Sébastien Hinault (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
15. Gianni Meersman (BEL/FDJ) 0:00.
16. Jürgen Roelandts (BEL/OLO) 0:00.
17. Pablo Urtasun (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
18. Mark Renshaw (AUS/HTC) 0:00.
19. Rob Ruijgh (NED/VAC) 0:00.
20. Tomas Vaitkus (LTU/AST) 0:00.
21. Samuel Dumoulin (FRA/COF) 0:00.
22. Kevin De Weert (BEL/QST) 0:00.
23. Borut Bozic (SLO/VAC) 0:00.
24. Geraint Thomas (GBR/SKY) 0:00.
25. Arnaud Coyot (FRA/SAU) 0:00.
26. Fabian Cancellara (SUI/LEO) 0:00.
27. Marco Marcato (ITA/VAC) 0:00.
28. Alessandro Petacchi (ITA/LAM) 0:00.
29. Andy Schleck (LUX/LEO) 0:00.
30. Sebastian Lang (GER/OLO) 0:00.
31. Jelle Vanendert (BEL/OLO) 0:00.
32. Fabio-Leonardo Duque (COL/COF) 0:00.
33. Damiano Cunego (ITA/LAM) 0:00.
34. Vladimir Gusev (RUS/KAT) 0:00.
35. Christian Vande Velde (USA/GRM) 0:00.
36. Tony Martin (GER/HTC) 0:00.
37. Rein Taaramae (EST/COF) 0:00.
38. Daniel Oss (ITA/LIQ) 0:00.
39. Peter Velits (SVK/HTC) 0:00.
40. Linus Gerdemann (GER/LEO) 0:00.
41. Maartens Tjallingii (NED/RAB) 0:00.
42. Jean Christophe Peraud (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
43. Jérôme Pineau (FRA/QST) 0:00.
44. Robert Gesink (NED/RAB) 0:00.
45. Nicolas Roche (IRL/ALM) 0:00.
46. Thor Hushovd (NOR/GRM) 0:00.
47. Alberto Contador (ESP/SAX) 0:00.
48. Matteo Tosatto (ITA/SAX) 0:00.
49. Tom Danielson (USA/GRM) 0:00.
50. Cadel Evans (AUS/BMC) 0:00.
51. Marcel Sieberg (GER/OLO) 0:00.
52. Samuel Sanchez (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
53. Niki Terpstra (NED/QST) 0:00.
54. Egoi Martinez (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
55. George Hincapie (USA/BMC) 0:00.
56. Xavier Zandio (ESP/SKY) 0:00.
57. Nicki Sörensen (DEN/SAX) 0:00.
58. Jérome Coppel (FRA/SAU) 0:00.
59. Ivan Gutierrez (ESP/MOV) 0:00.
60. Laurens ten Dam (NED/RAB) 0:00.
61. Jakob Diemer Fuglsang (DEN/LEO) 0:00.
62. Julien El Farès (FRA/COF) 0:00.
63. Maxime Monfort (BEL/LEO) 0:00.
64. Paolo Longo Borghini (ITA/LIQ) 0:00.
65. Yannick Talabardon (FRA/SAU) 0:00.
66. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/OLO) 0:00.
67. Tony Gallopin (FRA/COF) 0:00.
68. Julian Dean (NZL/GRM) 0:00.
69. Gorka Verdugo (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
70. Ruben Perez Moreno (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
71. Cyril Gautier (FRA/EUC) 0:00.
72. Haimar Zubeldia (ESP/RSH) 0:00.
73. Maciej Paterski (POL/LIQ) 0:00.
74. Vladimir Karpets (RUS/KAT) 0:00.
75. Thomas Voeckler (FRA/EUC) 0:00.
76. Vincent Jérôme (FRA/EUC) 0:00.
77. Stuart O'Grady (AUS/LEO) 0:00.
78. Grischa Niermann (GER/RAB) 0:00.
79. Adriano Malori (ITA/LAM) 0:00.
80. Jens Voigt (GER/LEO) 0:00.
81. Ivan Basso (ITA/LIQ) 0:00.
82. Frank Schleck (LUX/LEO) 0:00.
83. Jeremy Roy (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.
84. Kristjan Koren (SLO/LIQ) 0:00.
85. Carlos Barredo (ESP/RAB) 0:00.
86. Andreas Kloden (GER/RSH) 0:00.
87. Romain Zingle (BEL/COF) 0:00.
88. Rigoberto Uran (COL/SKY) 0:00.
89. Maxime Bouet (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
90. Richie Porte (AUS/SAX) 0:00.
91. Dries Devenyns (BEL/QST) 0:00.
92. Michael Schär (SUI/BMC) 0:00.
93. Andrej Zeits (KAZ/AST) 0:00.
94. Bjorn Leukemans (BEL/VAC) 0:00.
95. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/RAB) 0:00.
96. Levi Leipheimer (USA/RSH) 0:00.
97. Michael Buffaz (FRA/COF) 0:00.
98. Markel Irizar (ESP/RSH) 0:00.
99. Alessandro Vanotti (ITA/LIQ) 0:00.
100. Sergio Paulinho (POR/RSH) 0:00.
101. Christian Knees (GER/SKY) 0:00.
102. Imanol Erviti (ESP/MOV) 0:00.
103. Benjamin Noval (ESP/SAX) 0:00.
104. Sandy Casar (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.
105. Simon Gerrans (AUS/SKY) 0:00.
106. Amaël Moinard (FRA/BMC) 0:00.
107. David Arroyo (ESP/MOV) 0:00.
108. Dmitriy Fofonov (KAZ/AST) 0:00.
109. Alan Perez Lezaun (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
110. Remy Di Gregorio (FRA/AST) 0:00.
111. Rui Costa (POR/MOV) 0:00.
112. Egor Silin (RUS/KAT) 0:00.
113. Ben Swift (ENG/SKY) 0:00.
114. Hubert Dupont (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
115. Tristan Valentin (FRA/COF) 0:00.
116. Mickael Delage (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.
117. David Loosli (SUI/LAM) 0:00.
118. Sylvain Chavanel (FRA/QST) 0:00.
119. Johnny Hoogerland (NED/VAC) 0:00.
120. Sylvester Szmyd (POL/LIQ) 0:00.
121. Steve Morabito (SUI/BMC) 0:00.
122. Ryder Hesjedal (CAN/GRM) 0:00.
123. Joost Posthuma (NED/LEO) 0:00.
124. Brent Bookwalter (USA/BMC) 0:00.
125. Leonardo Bertagnolli (ITA/LAM) 0:00.
126. David Millar (GBR/GRM) 0:00.
127. Jeremie Galland (FRA/SAU) 0:00.
128. Juan Antonio Flecha (ESP/SKY) 0:00.
129. Blel Kadri (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
130. Addy Engels (NED/QST) 0:00.
131. Laurent Mangel (FRA/SAU) 0:27.
132. Pierre Rolland (FRA/EUC) 0:27.
133. Manuel Quinziato (ITA/BMC) 0:30.
134. Jimmy Engoulvent (FRA/SAU) 0:35.
135. Matteo Bono (ITA/LAM) 0:47.
136. Arthur Vichot (FRA/FDJ) 0:52.
137. Lars Boom (NED/RAB) 1:10.
138. Bernhard Eisel (AUT/HTC) 1:10.
139. Lars Ytting Bak (DEN/HTC) 1:10.
140. Marcus Burghardt (GER/BMC) 1:30.
141. Danilo Hondo (GER/LAM) 1:30.
142. Grega Bole (SLO/LAM) 1:30.
143. Andriy Grivko (UKR/AST) 1:41.
144. Tejay Van Garderen (USA/HTC) 5:03.
145. Matthew Goss (AUS/HTC) 5:03.
146. Chris Anker Sörensen (DEN/SAX) 5:43.
147. Sébastien Minard (FRA/ALM) 5:43.
148. Brian Vandborg (DEN/SAX) 5:43.
149. Maciej Bodnar (POL/LIQ) 5:43.
150. Mikhail Ignatiev (RUS/KAT) 5:43.
151. Anthony Roux (FRA/FDJ) 5:43.
152. Perrig Quemeneur (FRA/EUC) 5:43.
153. Thomas DE GEN (BEL/VAC) 5:43.
154. Jesus Hernandez (ESP/SAX) 5:43.
155. Fabio Sabatini (ITA/LIQ) 5:43.
156. Denys Kostyuk (UKR/LAM) 5:43.
157. Bauke Mollema (NED/RAB) 5:43.
158. Christophe Riblon (FRA/ALM) 5:43.
159. Gorka Izagirre (ESP/EUS) 5:43.
160. Daniel Navarro (ESP/SAX) 5:43.
161. David Moncoutié (FRA/COF) 5:43.
162. Jonathan Hivert (FRA/SAU) 5:43.
163. Anthony Charteau (FRA/EUC) 5:43.
164. Yohann Gene (FRA/EUC) 5:43.
165. Fabrice Jeandesboz (FRA/SAU) 5:43.
166. Paolo Tiralongo (ITA/AST) 5:43.
167. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/AST) 5:43.
168. Ivan Santaromita (ITA/BMC) 5:43.
169. Maxim Iglinskiy (KAZ/AST) 5:43.
170. Yury Trofimov (RUS/KAT) 5:43.
171. Danny Pate (USA/HTC) 5:43.
172. Dmitry Muravyev (KAZ/RSH) 5:43.
173. Gert Steegmans (BEL/QST) 5:43.
174. Ramunas Navardauskas (LTU/GRM) 5:43.
175. Lieuwe Westra (NED/VAC) 5:43.
176. Audrey Amador (CRC/MOV) 11:05.
177. Vladimir Isaichev (RUS/KAT) 11:47.
. John Gadret (FRA/ALM) Withdrawn
