Cavendish storms to victory

ISSOUDUN – British rider Mark Cavendish won his third stage of this year’s Tour de France yesterday when he claimed the 10th stage and his seventh in three participations.

Italian cyclist Rinaldo Nocentini retained the overall leader’s yellow jersey.On the first stage in years to be held entirely without the radio earpieces, through which team managers can communicate in their cars to the ri ders, a four-maoup broke away early in the 194.5 km stage between Limoges to Issoudun.But despite the apparent snail’s pace being maintained by the main peloton for much of the race, they were still able to keep the three Frenchmen and one Russian rider in their sights.Having reached a maximum lead of nearly four minutes, the teams of the sprinters aiming to organise a bunch finish moved to the front to help bring the lead down to 1:32 with 79 km to race.With only 20km from the finish and with only a 28sec lead the quartet of Benoit Vaugrenard, Samuel Dumoulin, Thierry Hupond and Mikhail Ignatiev were within the peloton’s sights.They put in a final effort over the first 10km of the distance to the finish to push their lead back up to 38sec but with Columbia, Milram, Quick Step and Liquigas taking turns at the front of the chasing bunch it was only a matter of time before they would be reeled in and Cavendish took full advantage of it.Meanwhile, Luxemburger Frank Schleck admitted he struggled to cope with media focusing on his younger brother Andy during the first days of the Tour de France, a report said yesterday.The Schlecks both race for the Saxo Bank team (formerly CSC) which last year helped Spaniard Carlos Sastre win the race.Despite Frank’s obvious talent, though, younger brother Andy is considered the team’s best hope of triumphing this year having won the Tour’s white jersey in 2008 for the top placed rider under 25.And Frank admitted the constant questions, over his status in the team and whether he would work as a ‘domestique’ for 24-year-old Andy, left him perturbed.’It’s true I suffered a little bit at the start of the Tour, although now I’m starting to feel more myself again,’ Frank said in Luxembourg newspaper Le Quotidien.’We’re brothers and we are very close to each other. Very close …. but I admit I found it hard to cope with all the questions at the start of the Tour about who was the team’s leader and whether I would become his helper. – Nampa-AFP