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Cavendish wins seventh stage in mass sprint

July 10, 2015

Britain's Mark Cavendish won a sprint finish Friday for the 26th Tour de France stage victory of his career, while countryman Chris Froome retained the overall lead as he attempts to repeat his 2013 Tour triumph.

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Frankreich Tour de France 2015 Mark Cavendish
Image: Reuters/S. Rellandini

This time there was no crash near the finish, like the one on Thursday's sixth stage that ended up breaking Tony Martin's collarbone, forcing him to withdraw while wearing the race leader's yellow jersey.

Cavendish is Martin's teammate on the Etixx-Quick Step team and showed empathy with the German after separating his right shoulder in a crash on the first stage of last year's Tour.

"Losing Tony is a big loss for the team, but we said today that we were going to win for him," Cavendish said. "He's an incredible part of the team - on and off the bike."

Cavendish timed his attack to perfection to catch German sprinter Andre Greipel near the line. "I'm really happy now, two years after my last podium," said Cavendish, whose last Tour stage win was in 2013. "I just waited a little longer so I could use my speed at the end."

Missing Martin

The stage featured no yellow jersey as Froome elected not to wear it as a mark of respect for Martin, who successfully underwent an operation early Friday.

Cavendish said right after his win that he was keen to speak to Martin on the phone.

"I'm so glad his operation's gone well, would have been so glad for him to be here and celebrate with us tonight," Cavendish said. "We're dedicating this win to him and I can't wait to speak to him later."

Frankreich Tour de France 2015 Radprofi Luca Paolini
Luca Paolini tested positive for cocaineImage: Reuters/B. Tessier

Paolini tests positive for cocaine

In other Tour news, 38-year-old Italian rider Luca Paolini has tested positive for cocaine, which is not a banned substance, but his team Katusha said it had removed the Italian from the tournament.

"Paolini tested positive for cocaine on July 7," Katusha spokesman Philippe Maerten told AFP by telephone.

"We're very surprised because cocaine is not a substance that improves performance," Maerten added.

glb (AFP, AP, Reuters)