Cavendish Wins Last Sprint Before Paris

After a tough three days in the Pyrenees Mountains, the Tour de France flattened out in stage 15. The 193 kilometer ride from Limoux to Montpellier was expected to be another day for the sprinters to battle for green jersey points and that's exactly how it turned out.

The American HTC-Highroad team (pictured) once again showed they are the best at delivering their own man to a perfect position to sprint to the finish. And their sprinter, British Rider Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad), took full advantage of his team's expertise to snatch his fourth win in this year's Tour. American Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervelo) finished in second, less than a wheel length behind the winner. Italian Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) finished in third place.

Since the peloton finished as a group in today's race, Frenchman Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) will keep the yellow jersey as the overall leader for a couple more days. Tomorrow is a rest day for the riders. Then the race goes to the Alps for a few days. Tuesday's stage 16 is a mostly uphill 162.5 kilometer ride from Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux to Gap, with a category 2 climb near the end and then an 11 kilometer downhill to the finish line.

Here are the current standings (with 6 stages to go):

YELLOW JERSEY (INDIVIDUAL LEADER)
1. Thomas Voeckler, France (Europcar)
2. Frank Schleck, Luxembourg (Leopard-Trek)..........1' 49"
3. Cadel Evans, Australia (BMC Racing)..........2' 06"
4. Andy Schleck, Luxembourg (Leopard-Trek)..........2' 15"
5. Ivan Basso, Italy (Liquigas)..........3' 16"
6. Samuel Sanchez, Spain (Euskaltel-Euskadi)..........3' 44"
7. Alberto Contador, Spain (Saxo Bank)..........4' 00"
8. Damiano Cunego, Italy (Lampre)..........4' 01"
9. Tom Danielson, USA (Garmin-Cervelo)..........5' 46"
10. Kevin De Weert, Belgium (Quickstep)..........6' 18"


GREEN JERSEY (SPRINTERS)
1. Mark Cavendish, Great Britain (HTC-Highroad)........319 pts
2. Jose Joaquin Rojas, Spain (Movistar)........282 pts
3. Philippe Gilbert, Belgium (Omega-Lotto)........248 pts
4. Thor Hushovd, Norway (Garmin-Cervelo)........192 pts
5. Andre Greipel, Germany (Omega-Lotto)........170 pts


POLKA DOT JERSEY (CLIMBERS)
1. Jelle Vanendert, Belgium (Omega-Lotto)..........74 pts
2. Samuel Sanchez, Spain (Euskaltel-Euskadi)..........72 pts
3. Jeremy Roy, France (FDJ)..........45 pts
4. Andy Schleck, Luxembourg (Leopard-Trek)..........28 pts
5. Cadel Evans, Australia (BMC Racing)..........26 pts


TEAM STANDINGS
1. Leopard-Trek (Luxembourg)
2. Europcar (France)..........06"
3. AG2R (France)..........2' 32"
4. Garmin-Cervelo (USA)..........3' 43"
5. Katusha (Russia)..........8' 31"