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Cavendish wins breezy stage

Montpellier - British sprinter Mark Cavendish won his fourth stage the Tour de France this year by edging out Tyler Farrar of the United States on Sunday, and French rider Thomas Voeckler retained the yellow jersey.

The victory in the 15th stage was the 19th win on the Tour for the 26-year-old Cavendish. Alessandro Petacchi of Italy was third.

The mostly flat 192.5km route through vineyards from Limoux to Montpellier was expected to favour sprinters, giving them a chance to shine again after three days of tough climbs in the Pyrenees.

"I had a lot of trouble in the mountains. It was difficult," Cavendish said. "Today, it was a difficult, technical finish - there was wind on both sides and lot of bashing."

The breezy conditions reminded Cavendish of his native Isle of Man.

"The wind today is the way it always is at home," he said.

Voeckler, a 32-year-old Frenchman with the Europcar squad, kept the overall lead that he first took in a crash-marred Stage 9 and surprisingly held through the mountains.

"I am happy it was flat," Voeckler said.

The main contenders played it safe on the wind-swept ride toward the Mediterranean and finished right behind the sprinters. Frank Schleck of Luxembourg remains second overall, 1 minute, 49 seconds back, while two-time Tour runner-up Cadel Evans is third, 2:06 behind.

Defending champion Alberto Contador is seventh, 4 minutes back.

Five riders - all about 2 hours behind Voeckler - surged out of the pack at the 2km mark and built a lead of 4 minutes, 15 seconds.

But the pack, led by Cavendish, barreled ahead before the intermediate sprint with 46 kms left to ride and narrowed the gap on the breakaway.

In that sprint, Cavendish went on to win the most points among contenders for the best sprinter's green jersey by nosing out Jose Joaquin Rojas of Spain and Belgium's Philippe Gilbert.

Nicki Terpstra of the Netherlands was among the breakaway riders but was caught with only 3 kms left.

Monday is the second and final rest day before cyclists head into the foothills of the Alps for Stage 16 on Tuesday, a 162.5km ride from Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux to Gap.

The Tour ends on July 24 in Paris.

Results from the 15th stage of the Tour de France, a 192.5km ride from Limoux to Montpellier on Sunday:

1. Mark Cavendish (IDM/HTC) 4h20min 24sec (average: 44,4 km/h)
2. Tyler Farrar (USA/GRM) at 0:00.
3. Alessandro Petacchi (ITA/LAM) 0:00.
4. Daniel Oss (ITA/LIQ) 0:00.
5. Jos Joaquin Rojas (ESP/MOV) 0:00.
6. Ben Swift (ENG/SKY) 0:00.
7. Gerald Ciolek (GER/QST) 0:00.
8. Tony Gallopin (FRA/COF) 0:00.
9. Francisco Ventoso (ESP/MOV) 0:00.
10. Sbastien Hinault (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
11. Jimmy Engoulvent (FRA/SAU) 0:00.
12. Fabio-Leonardo Duque (COL/COF) 0:00.
13. Andre Greipel (GER/OLO) 0:00.
14. Borut Bozic (SLO/VAC) 0:00.
15. Tomas Vaitkus (LTU/AST) 0:00.
16. Arnaud Coyot (FRA/SAU) 0:00.
17. Arnold Jeannesson (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.
18. Julian Dean (NZL/GRM) 0:00.
19. Fabio Sabatini (ITA/LIQ) 0:00.
20. Nicolas Roche (EIR/ALM) 0:00.
21. Rob Ruijgh (NED/VAC) 0:00.
22. Thor Hushovd (NOR/GRM) 0:00.
23. Jonathan Hivert (FRA/SAU) 0:00.
24. Ruben Perez Moreno (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
25. Mark Renshaw (AUS/HTC) 0:00.
26. Rein Taaramae (EST/COF) 0:00.
27. Maartens Tjallingii (NED/RAB) 0:00.
28. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/OLO) 0:00.
29. Cadel Evans (AUS/BMC) 0:00.
30. Dmitriy Fofonov (KAZ/AST) 0:00.
31. Anthony Roux (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.
32. Kevin De Weert (BEL/QST) 0:00.
33. Stuart O'Grady (AUS/LEO) 0:00.
34. Frank Schleck (LUX/LEO) 0:00.
35. Sbastien Turgot (FRA/EUC) 0:00.
36. Peter Velits (SVK/HTC) 0:00.
37. Jean Christophe Peraud (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
38. Damiano Cunego (ITA/LAM) 0:00.
39. Sebastian Lang (GER/OLO) 0:00.
40. Jelle Vanendert (BEL/OLO) 0:00.
41. Andy Schleck (LUX/LEO) 0:00.
42. Laurent Mangel (FRA/SAU) 0:00.
43. Alberto Contador (ESP/SAX) 0:00.
44. Tom Danielson (USA/GRM) 0:00.
45. Egoi Martinez (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
46. Maciej Bodnar (POL/LIQ) 0:00.
47. Rigoberto Uran (COL/SKY) 0:00.
48. Ivan Basso (ITA/LIQ) 0:00.
49. Samuel Sanchez (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
50. Michael Schar (SUI/BMC) 0:00.
51. George Hincapie (USA/BMC) 0:00.
52. Sebastien Minard (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
53. Nicki Srensen (DEN/SAX) 0:00.
54. Jerome Coppel (FRA/SAU) 0:00.
55. Cyril Gautier (FRA/EUC) 0:00.
56. Juan Antonio Flecha (ESP/SKY) 0:00.
57. Remy Di Gregorio (FRA/AST) 0:00.
58. Julien El Fares (FRA/COF) 0:00.
59. Maxime Monfort (BEL/LEO) 0:00.
60. Vladimir Karpets (RUS/KAT) 0:00.
61. Yannick Talabardon (FRA/SAU) 0:00.
62. Yury Trofimov (RUS/KAT) 0:00.
63. Tristan Valentin (FRA/COF) 0:00.
64. Andrej Zeits (KAZ/AST) 0:00.
65. Jrgen Roelandts (BEL/OLO) 0:00.
66. Maciej Paterski (POL/LIQ) 0:00.
67. Haimar Zubeldia (ESP/RSH) 0:00.
68. Ivan Gutierrez (ESP/MOV) 0:00.
69. Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR/SKY) 0:00.
70. Imanol Erviti (ESP/MOV) 0:00.
71. Thomas Voeckler (FRA/EUC) 0:00.
72. Pierre Rolland (FRA/EUC) 0:00.
73. Linus Gerdemann (GER/LEO) 0:00.
74. Marcel Sieberg (GER/OLO) 0:00.
75. Gorka Verdugo (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
76. Grischa Niermann (GER/RAB) 0:00.
77. Jrme Pineau (FRA/QST) 0:00.
78. Alan Perez Lezaun (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
79. Gianni Meersman (BEL/FDJ) 0:00.
80. Robert Gesink (NED/RAB) 0:00.
81. Sylvain Chavanel (FRA/QST) 0:00.
82. Jeremie Galland (FRA/SAU) 0:00.
83. Sergio Paulinho (POR/RSH) 0:00.
84. Matthew Goss (AUS/HTC) 0:00.
85. Simon Gerrans (AUS/SKY) 0:00.
86. Carlos Barredo (ESP/RAB) 0:00.
87. Kristjan Koren (SLO/LIQ) 0:00.
88. Markel Irizar (ESP/RSH) 0:00.
89. Sandy Casar (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.
90. Hubert Dupont (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
91. Christian Knees (GER/SKY) 0:00.
92. David Arroyo (ESP/MOV) 0:00.
93. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/RAB) 0:00.
94. Christian Vande Velde (USA/GRM) 0:00.
95. Brian Vandborg (DEN/SAX) 0:00.
96. Maxime Bouet (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
97. Leonardo Bertagnolli (ITA/LAM) 0:00.
98. Gorka Izagirre (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
99. Vladimir Gusev (RUS/KAT) 0:00.
100. Xavier Zandio (ESP/SKY) 0:00.
101. Vincent Jerome (FRA/EUC) 0:00.
102. Michael Buffaz (FRA/COF) 0:00.
103. Paolo Tiralongo (ITA/AST) 0:00.
104. Steve Morabito (SWI/BMC) 0:00.
105. Amal Moinard (FRA/BMC) 0:00.
106. Fabrice Jeandesboz (FRA/SAU) 0:00.
107. Levi Leipheimer (USA/RSH) 0:00.
108. Arthur Vichot (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.
109. Johnny Hoogerland (NED/VAC) 0:00.
110. Anthony Delaplace (FRA/SAU) 0:00.
111. David Moncoutie (FRA/COF) 0:00.
112. Benjamin Noval (ESP/SAX) 0:00.
113. Denys Kostyuk (UKR/LAM) 0:00.
114. Matteo Tosatto (ITA/SAX) 0:00.
115. Joost Posthuma (NED/LEO) 0:00.
116. Geraint Thomas (GBR/SKY) 0:00.
117. Fabian Cancellara (SWI/LEO) 0:23.
118. David Loosli (SWI/LAM) 0:23.
119. David Millar (GBR/GRM) 0:28.
120. Grega Bole (SLO/LAM) 0:44.
121. Jeremy Roy (FRA/FDJ) 0:49.
122. Bjorn Leukemans (BEL/VAC) 0:49.
123. Ramunas Navardauskas (LTU/GRM) 0:51.
124. Marco Marcato (ITA/VAC) 1:03.
125. Tony Martin (GER/HTC) 1:28.
126. Bernhard Eisel (AUT/HTC) 1:28.
127. Ryder Hesjedal (CAN/GRM) 1:35.
128. Thomas DE GEN (BEL/VAC) 1:35.
129. Chris Anker Srensen (DEN/SAX) 1:35.
130. Richie Porte (AUS/SAX) 1:35.
131. Romain Zingle (BEL/COF) 1:35.
132. Danilo Hondo (GER/LAM) 1:35.
133. Audrey Amador (CRC/MOV) 1:35.
134. Adriano Malori (ITA/LAM) 1:35.
135. Brent Bookwalter (USA/BMC) 1:35.
136. Maxim Iglinskiy (KAZ/AST) 1:35.
137. Bauke Mollema (NED/RAB) 1:47.
138. Lieuwe Westra (NED/VAC) 1:56.
139. Paolo Longo Borghini (ITA/LIQ) 2:19.
140. Jens Voigt (GER/LEO) 2:19.
141. Niki Terpstra (NED/QST) 2:19.
142. Addy Engels (NED/QST) 2:38.
143. Dries Devenyns (BEL/QST) 2:38.
144. Egor Silin (RUS/KAT) 2:38.
145. Andriy Grivko (UKR/AST) 2:38.
146. Mickael Delage (FRA/FDJ) 2:38.
147. Perrig Quemeneur (FRA/EUC) 3:09.
148. Anthony Charteau (FRA/EUC) 3:09.
149. Rui Costa (POR/MOV) 3:09.
150. Manuel Quinziato (ITA/BMC) 3:16.
151. Laurens ten Dam (NED/RAB) 3:16.
152. Sylvester Szmyd (POL/LIQ) 3:16.
153. Mikhail Ignatiev (RUS/KAT) 3:16.
154. Blel Kadri (FRA/ALM) 4:32.
155. Christophe Riblon (FRA/ALM) 4:32.
156. Yohann Gene (FRA/EUC) 4:32.
157. Matteo Bono (ITA/LAM) 4:32.
158. Ivan Santaromita (ITA/BMC) 5:00.
159. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/AST) 5:00.
160. Daniel Navarro (ESP/SAX) 5:00.
161. Jesus Hernandez (ESP/SAX) 5:00.
162. Lars Ytting Bak (DEN/HTC) 5:00.
163. Jakob Diemer Fuglsang (DEN/LEO) 5:00.
164. Dmitry Muravyev (KAZ/RSH) 5:00.
165. Danny Pate (USA/HTC) 5:00.
166. Alessandro Vanotti (ITA/LIQ) 5:16.
167. Marcus Burghardt (GER/BMC) 5:22.
168. Tejay Van Garderen (USA/HTC) 5:25.
169. Samuel Dumoulin (FRA/COF) 6:10.
170. Pablo Urtasun (ESP/EUS) 6:10.

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