Cavendish Gets His Second Win In Stage 7

As expected, Stage 7 (a 218 kilometer from Le Mans to Chateauroux) turned out to be another day for the sprinters. And the best sprinter of the day was British rider Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad), who finished first to notch his second stage win in this year's Tour. Finishing in second place was Italian rider Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre). The third place finisher was Germany's Andre Greipel (Omega-Lotto). Norwegian Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) finished with the winning group and will wear the yellow jersey again tomorrow.

This year's Tour has been marred by a lot of crashes, and today was no different. One of the best sprinters, belgium's Tom Boonen (Quick Step) had to drop out of the race today because of a crash he suffered yesterday. About 37 kilometers from the finish in stage 7 there was a massive crash. It split the peloton and caused Brit Bradley Wiggins (Sky Procycling) -- who was in sixth place overall -- to be injured seriously enough to have to leave the race.

American Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) survived the crash but lost even more time today because of it (about 3 minutes). At the start of the Tour Leipheimer was one of the favorite to finish on the podium at the end of the Tour. That dream has now evaporated, since he is now  4' 29" behind the race leaders. He is a good climber and the high mountains are yet to come (starting next Thursday), but that is a lot of time to make up. American Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) was even more negatively affected today. He started today only 18" out of the lead, and finished the day 12' 59" behind the leaders.

The two American riders closest to the leaders are Tom Danielson and Christian Vande Velde (both on the Garmin-Cervelo team). They are both 1' 57" behind.

The overall standings could be shaken up tomorrow. The race enter a "medium mountain" stage and will probably prove a little too difficult for a sprint finish. Stage 8 is a 189 kilometer mostly uphill run from Aigurande to Super-Besse Sancy. There are two category 4 climbs, and then near the end of the course is a category 2 climb. Then the race finishes uphill on a category 3 climb. It should be an interesting day.

Here are the current standings:

YELLOW JERSEY (INDIVIDUAL LEADER)
1. Thor Hushovd, Norway (Garmin-Cervelo)
2. Cadel Evans, Australia (BMC Racing)..........01"
3. Frank Schleck, Luxembourg (Leopard-Trek)..........04"
4. David Millar, Great Britain (Garmin-Cervelo)..........08"
5. Andreas Kloden, Germany (Radio Shack)..........10"
6. Jakob Fuglsang, Denmark (Leopard-Trek)..........12"
7. Andy Schleck, Luxembourg (Leopard-Trek)..........12"
8. Tony Martin, Germany (HTC-Highroad)..........13"
9. Peter Velits, Slovakia (HTC-Highroad)..........13"
10. Robert Gesink, Netherlands (Rabobank)..........20"
24. Alberto Contador, Spain (Saxo Bank)..........1' 42"
25. Tom Danielson, USA (Garmin-Cervelo)..........1' 57"
26. Christian Vande Velde, USA (Garmin-Cervelo)..........1' 57"


GREEN JERSEY (SPRINTERS)
1. Jose Joaquin Rojas, Spain (Movistar)..........167 pts
2. Philippe Gilbert, Belgium (Omega-Lotto)..........156 pts
3. Mark Cavendish, Great Britain (HTC-Highroad)..........150 pts
4. Thor Hushovd, Norway (Garmin-Cervelo)..........130 pts
5. Romain Feillu, France (Vacansoleil)..........99 pts
6. Cadel Evans, Australia (BMC Racing)..........98 pts


POLKA DOT JERSEY (CLIMBERS)
1. Johnny Hoogerland, Netherlands (Vacansoleil)..........4 pts
2. Anthony Roux, France (FDJ)..........3 pts
3. Cadel Evans, Australia (BMC Racing)..........2 pts
4. Philippe Gilbert, Belgium (Omega-Lotto)..........1 pt
5. Mickael Delage, France (FDJ)..........1 pt
6. Anthony Delaplace, France (Saur-Sojasun)..........1 pt
7. Lieuwe Westra, Netherlands (Vacansoleil)..........1 pt
8. Alberto Contador, Spain (Saxo Bank)..........1 pt


TEAM STANDINGS
1. Garmin-Cervelo (USA)
2. Leopard-Trek (Luxembourg)..........4"
3. Radio Shack (USA)..........10"
4. HTC-Highroad (USA)..........13"
5. Quick Step (Germany)..........1' 21"