Cavendish ready for test ahead
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Mark Cavendish will take a rest at the Tour de France on Monday, with his mind focused on keeping the points classification leader's green jersey for the remaining six days of racing.
As Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) prepares to return to action, he will know his 37-point cushion by no means guarantees he will return home with the maillot vert. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) is second on 282 and Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) third on 248, with both likely to accrue more points than Cavendish in the Alps.
"The battle's not over until we cross the line on the Champs-Elysees so we'll keep plugging away," Cavendish said. " I know Gilbert is quite far back but he desperately wants this jersey. He's an incredibly talented bike rider. He'll find a way to get points. Rojas can climb a lot better than me - there's some intermediate sprints that he can get points in that I can't."
The 26-year-old from the Isle of Man won the 193-kilometre 15th stage from Limoux to Montpellier on Sunday. It was his fourth win of the 2011 Tour - following successes in Cap Frehel, Chateauroux and Lavaur - taking his overall tally to 19 in four years.
After Monday's rest day the Tour resumes with the 162.5km 16th stage from Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux to Gap.
"I'll just keep plugging away to try to get points as best I can," Cavendish added. "Hopefully we can stand on the podium in Paris with this on the shoulders."
Cavendish yesterday finished ahead of Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervelo) in second and Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) in third, with Team Sky Tour debutant Ben Swift sixth.
The 23-year-old from Rotherham said: "It was pretty manic. I gave it my best shot and got sixth, but you need a lot of luck and a lot of speed to beat Cav.
"I'm actually feeling better as the race is going on. If I can keep going like that I'll be good next week."
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The overall rankings were unchanged on Sunday, with Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) retaining the race leader's yellow jersey.