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Tour of Britain: Jonathan Tiernan-Locke takes lead after stage six

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Tiernan-Locke leaps in to the lead with superb Tour of Britain stage six showing

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UPDATED:

17:23 GMT, 14 September 2012

Devon's Jonathan Tiernan-Locke seized the overall lead of the Tour of Britain with an aggressive ride on the sixth stage in Wales.

Leopold Koenig (Team NetApp) claimed victory on the 189.8-kilometre route from Welshpool to Caerphilly and Tiernan-Locke (Endura Racing) finished second to assume the race leader's gold jersey with two days of racing remaining.

The 27-year-old from Plymouth, who is rumoured to be joining Team Sky in 2013 and was named in the British team for next week's road World Championships, began the day in sixth place, 24 seconds behind Leigh Howard (Orica-GreenEdge).

Leader: Jonathan Tiernan-Locke takes the gold Jersey

Leader: Jonathan Tiernan-Locke takes the gold Jersey

But now Tiernan-Locke, who received a six-second time bonus for placing second, has a 13-second lead over Howard ahead of Saturday's seventh stage from Barnstaple to Dartmouth.

The eight-stage race concludes with Sunday's Surrey route from Reigate to Guildford.

Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins was a non-starter in Welshpool after an eventful fifth stage to Stoke-on-Trent for Team Sky, which saw Mark Cavendish relinquish the race lead to Howard.

Six riders formed the breakaway on a day which saw the riders go over the Brecon Beacons.

Victorious: Leopold Koenig celebrates victory during the sixth stage

Victorious: Leopold Koenig celebrates victory during the sixth stage

Their advantage was cut to less than a minute with two ascents of Caerphilly Mountain to come before the finish in front of Caerphilly Castle.

On the first climb of Caerphilly Mountain, Tiernan-Locke attacked from the peloton as the escape group splintered in front of him.

Only escapee Graham Briggs (Raleigh-GAC) could stay with him, but Koenig (Team NetApp) bridged the gap before Briggs fell back on the lower slopes of the second ascent of the finishing climb.

British academy rider Josh Edmondson was alone in pursuit but was swept up by a larger chase group, led by Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale), in the closing kilometres.

Rolling in: Mark Cavendish completes the stage

Rolling in: Mark Cavendish completes the stage

Koenig belatedly helped to share the workload with Tiernan-Locke in the closing moments before sprinting away to victory by one second.

Nathan Haas (Garmin-Sharp) won the sprint for third to move to third place overall, 18 seconds behind.

Luke Rowe (Team Sky) was fifth on the stage.

Tour de France: Mark Cavendish wins stage 18

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Cavendish sends timely reminder with stunning finish to notch second stage win

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UPDATED:

14:29 GMT, 20 July 2012

A sensational sprint finish saw Mark Cavendish claim the 22nd Tour de France stage success of his career in Brive-la-Gaillarde.

The 27-year-old from the Isle of Man equalled Lance Armstrong and Andre Darrigade in fourth place in the all-time rankings of Tour stage winners.

Bradley Wiggins, who retained a lead of two minutes five seconds at the top of the overall rankings as he seems ever more certain of becoming the first British winner of the Tour, played his part in leading Cavendish out at the end of the 222.5-kilometre route from Blagnac.

Brit special: Mark Cavendish crosses the finish line to win the 18th stage of the Tour de France

Brit special: Mark Cavendish crosses the finish line to win the 18th stage of the Tour de France

But the world champion had to use all his skill to negotiate his way around Luis-Leon Sanchez and Nicolas Roche, who were making a last-ditch bid to avoid a sprint finish, and power to a stunning triumph.

Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) was second, with points classification leader Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) third.

Sanchez (Rabobank) was fourth, with Roche (Ag2r La Mondiale) fifth.

Tour de France 2012: Andre Greipel wins stage five

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Cavendish edged out again as Greipel makes it two Tour stage wins in a row

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UPDATED:

15:53 GMT, 5 July 2012

German sprinter Andre Greipel won at the Tour de France for a second successive day with victory on stage five to Saint-Quentin.

World champion Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) was back in the saddle following a heavy crash on stage four and was in contention in the 196.5-kilometre fifth stage from Rouen to Saint-Quentin.

But Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) timed his dart for the line well to triumph ahead of Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge), with Juan Jose Haedo (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff) third and Cavendish fourth.

Who's the daddy Andre Greipel celebrates his victory at the finish in Saint-Quentin

Who's the daddy Andre Greipel celebrates his victory at the finish in Saint-Quentin

Tour standings

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Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan)
retained the overall leader's yellow jersey, with Bradley Wiggins (Team
Sky) second, seven seconds behind, and defending champion Cadel Evans
(BMC Racing) remaining seventh, 17 seconds adrift.

For the second successive day
Cavendish was denied the opportunity to draw level with Lance Armstrong
and Andre Darrigade on 22 stage wins.

Another opportunity should arise
tomorrow, with the 207.5km sixth stage from Epernay to Metz also likely
to end in a mass sprint.

A four-man breakaway comprising
Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ-Bigmat), Jan Ghyselinck (Cofidis), Julien Simon
(Saur-Sojasun) and Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel-Euskadi) began in the
opening kilometre.
Ladagnous led the Tour at the intermediate sprint, 87.5km from the end
of the day's route, leaving the first rider of the peloton 11 points to
claim.

With support from Team Sky colleagues
Bernhard Eisel, who required stitches in a cut above his eye following
the crash, and Edvald Boasson Hagen, Cavendish won the dash for the
intermediate sprint line.

Keep the faith: The peloton cycles past a cathedral during the fifth stage

Keep the faith: The peloton cycles past a cathedral during the fifth stage

Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) was one
place behind Cavendish in sixth, with Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) seventh
and Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) eighth.

The result meant Cavendish trimmed Sagan's points classification lead by just three points.
Team Sky, operating with their full squad of eight riders in a 'train',
led the peloton's pursuit of the breakaway quartet, with BMC Racing and
RadioShack-Nissan also prominent.

A crash in the peloton around the 3km
mark saw Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) tumble and Sagan unseated,
reducing the number of Cavendish's rivals.

This way lads: The pack speed downhill towards the finish in Saint-Quentin

This way lads: The pack speed downhill towards the finish in Saint-Quentin

Ghyselinck attacked his escape companions to open up a clear advantage in a technical, uphill finish.

He was overhauled as the peloton
caught up and Greipel was able to power away to victory, with Cavendish
among those left in his wake.

Sagan finished the day on 155 points
and still in the green jersey, with Goss second on 137, Greipel third on
132 and Cavendish fourth on 119.

Tour de France 2012: Mark Cavendish crashes out

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Manx Missile grounded as Cav crashes to dent Tour hopes in stage four

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UPDATED:

16:14 GMT, 4 July 2012

World champion Mark Cavendish's bid for a 22nd Tour de France stage win was ended by a crash as Andre Greipel won stage four to Rouen.

In the close-packed bunch, Robbie Hunter (Garmin-Sharp) spectacularly tumbled over his handlebars fracturing the peloton with around 2.7 kilometres to go of the 214.5km route from Abbeville.

The incident delayed more than two thirds of the peloton, but Greipel had support from his Lotto-Belisol team as he claimed a sprint victory. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) was second, with Tom Veelers (Argos-Shimano) third.

Down and out: Mark Cavendish was left bruised and battered by a crash on stage four of the Tour

Down and out: Mark Cavendish was left bruised and battered by a crash on stage four of the Tour

Cavendish (Team Sky) was seeking to draw level with Lance Armstrong and Andre Darrigade by adding to his 21 Tour stage wins, but was seen gingerly picking himself up off the tarmac, his world champion's jersey in tatters and ripped across the back.

Cavendish crossed more than four minutes behind Greipel, but apparently with no more than superficial injuries.

As the collision occurred inside the final 3km of the stage, Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) retained the race leader's maillot jaune.

Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar), David Moncoutie (Cofidis) and Anthony Delaplace (Saur-Sojasun) comprised the day's three-man breakaway, which began in the opening kilometre.

Wheely good views: Stage four of the Tour goes from Abbeville to Rouen in north-western France

Wheely good views: Stage four of the Tour goes from Abbeville to Rouen in north-western France

Wheely good views: Stage four of the Tour goes from Abbeville to Rouen in north-western France

Japan's Arashiro led the trio over the intermediate line in Fecamp with 74.5km of the stage remaining.

The peloton followed six minutes later, with Cavendish leading the sprint over the line.

Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge), Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) and maillot vert Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) followed.

The result saw Cavendish move into second place in the points classification standings behind Sagan, the winner of stages one and three, who took nine points.

Man in mirror: Fabian Cancellara, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, was in the mix

Man in mirror: Fabian Cancellara, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, was in the mix

The Manxman moved to 86 points, with Slovakian Sagan going to 125.

The peloton then increased the tempo in pursuit of the escapees, with Team Sky, BMC Racing, Orica-GreenEdge and Lotto-Belisol to the fore.

A handful of riders broke out of the peloton in an attempt to bridge the gap with 10km to go, and Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis), Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and Wouter Poels (Vacansoleil-DCM) stayed clear on the final descent into Rouen.

Leading the way: Andre Greipel eventually surged to glory

Leading the way: Andre Greipel eventually surged to glory

It was a forlorn break, though, as the sprinters' teams set to work and the peloton soaked up the trio with 3km remaining.

Just as the teams sought to get their teams in position for the finale, an innocuous stage turned sour with a large crash.

With Cavendish down, Greipel was able to avoid the crash and surge to victory, while Sagan, winner of stage one and three, added to his points haul by finishing fifth.

Cancellara rolled in well down alongside Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky), who remained second overall, seven seconds behind.

Tour de France 2012: Mark Cavendish wins second stage

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Super Cav off the mark … British ace wins second stage after brilliant sprint finish

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UPDATED:

16:55 GMT, 2 July 2012

Mark Cavendish won a first Tour de France stage as world champion and a 21st of his stellar career on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old from the Isle of Man operated primarily on his own in the finale and showed his supreme bike handling ability on the 207.5-kilometre second stage from Vise to Tournai to win ahead of Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) and Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge).

With Team Sky's priority Bradley
Wiggins' bid for overall victory and the Olympic Games on July 28
Cavendish's main focus, it is anticipated the points classification's
green jersey will be on the shoulders of another rider come Paris on
July 22.

Mark Cavendish

Making his Mark: The British star sealed the 21st Tour stage win of his brilliant career on Tuesday

But Cavendish, now sixth behind Eddy
Merckx on the list of all-time Tour stage winners and one stage behind
Lance Armstrong, appears unwilling to give up the prize without a fight.

Fabian Cancellara
(RadioShack-Nissan) retained the race leader's yellow jersey, with
Wiggins second overall, still 10 seconds clear of defending champion
Cadel Evans (BMC Racing). All three finished in the main bunch.

Main man: Cavendish celebrates his win on the second stage of the Tour de France

Main man: Cavendish celebrates his win on the second stage of the Tour de France

Christophe Kern (Europcar), Michael
Morkov (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) and Anthony Roux (FDJ-Bigmat) formed the
day's three-man break which had little chance of survival on a route
made for the fast men of the peloton.

The intermediate sprint came 54.5km
from the finish, with Kern, Roux and Morkov riding across without
contesting the race for the line, leaving the first rider of the peloton
chasing 13 points.

Driving for the line: Cavendish out-sprints Germany's Andre Greipel at the end of the second stage

Driving for the line: Cavendish out-sprints Germany's Andre Greipel at the end of the second stage

Cavendish was alone for Team Sky and
crossed behind former HTC-Highroad team-mates Goss and Mark Renshaw
(Rabobank) to claim nine points.

The gap to the escapees was kept to
under three minutes and Roux launched a solo attack as his two fellow
escapees were swept up with around 25km to go on a straight run-in into
Tournai.

Photo finish: Cavendish does enough to see of the challenge from Greipel

Photo finish: Cavendish does enough to see of the challenge from Greipel

With a full-speed peloton in pursuit,
Roux was caught with just under 15km remaining. The sprinters' teams
lined up, while Evans' BMC Racing squad were also prominent at the
front, with Wiggins staying out of trouble alongside. Cavendish's sprint
rival Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano), though, was at the back of the
peloton due to illness.

The tempo was high as the peloton
negotiated a technical and tight conclusion, including two roundabouts
and a narrowing section of road.

Water view: The Tour always throws up spectacular routes for riders and fans alike

Water view: The Tour always throws up spectacular routes for riders and fans alike

Lotto-Belisol moved to the front with
1.5km to go, but all the main protagonists were present as Cavendish
tucked in behind Greipel.

With his team-mates primarily
assigned to support Wiggins, Cavendish, who had early support from
Bernhard Eisel and Edvald Boasson Hagen, had to freestyle from
wheel-to-wheel in the finale before timing his move to perfection,
rounding Greipel with 200metres to go and winning the dash for the line
to add to his formidable total of stage wins.

It was the first time Cavendish has won a stage of the Tour outside France.

Still in the hunt: Bradley Wiggins

Still in the hunt: Bradley Wiggins

Cavendish talked down his prospects of retaining the green jersey in a year where both his and the team's priorities lie elsewhere but vowed to make the most of what chances he has.

'I had to leave it a little bit late but I should have gone earlier…I really had to lunge for the line,' he told British Eurosport.

'I'm not really chasing (the green jersey) this year. I'll keep it in the back of my mind and go for every opportunity but I'm not going to put myself in the ground for it.

'It's not possible to chase the green jersey alone so I'm just trying to get the stages and then see.

'I'll go for the intermediates but I'm not going to chase down breaks to go for it. It's about minimising points lost really.'

Assessing the stage itself, a typically tough early day in the Tour, he added: “It was so hectic. If it had just been sprinters it would have been okay but every type of climber and GC (general classification) rider was at the finish.

'I knew it would be difficult, dangerous and hectic here but I came in without any pressure. it was just about being plucky about it.

'I knew the finish and knew there was a headwind, so I knew you could come from behind.'

Tour de France 2012: Mark Cavendish in green jersey bid

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Cavendish in green jersey bid as Team Sky star ups the ante in intermediate sprint

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UPDATED:

14:49 GMT, 1 July 2012

World champion Mark Cavendish appears unwilling to give up his Tour de France points classification title without a fight.

The 27-year-old from the Isle of Man, who won a first green jersey in 2011, contested the intermediate sprint on Sunday's first road stage, the 198-kilometres from Liege to Seraing, which is a loop through the Ardennes region of Belgium.

With support of Team Sky colleague Edvald Boasson Hagen, Cavendish was the second member of the peloton over the line with 81.5km to go, with Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) beating his former HTC-Highroad team-mate to the line.

Making his Mark: Cavendish in action on Sunday

Making his Mark: Cavendish in action on Sunday

Yohann Gene (Europcar) led at the intermediate sprint to claim 20 points, with Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), Anthony Delaplace (Saur-Sojasun), Maxime Bouet (Ag2r La Mondiale) and Michael Morkov (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff) also in the day's six-man breakaway.

Goss led the peloton over the line two minutes 35 seconds behind, narrowly ahead of Cavendish, who claimed eight points.

Room with a view: Riders make their way around the 123-mile stage

Room with a view: Riders make their way around the 123-mile stage

Team Sky were wearing yellow helmets as leaders of the team classification, while Bradley Wiggins was in temporary possession of the green jersey, on behalf of Fabian Cancellara, the race leader.

Wiggins finished second to Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) in the opening prologue as the Swiss took the race leader's yellow jersey.

Mark Cavendish wins stage five of Giro d"Italia

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Kids play! Cavendish back on the podium with daughter Delaila

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UPDATED:

16:29 GMT, 10 May 2012

British rider Mark Cavendish won stage five of the Giro d'Italia in a close finish in Fano on Thursday.

The Team Sky man produced a powerful sprint to edge out Australian Matt Goss of the Orica GreenEdge team and Italian Daniele Bennati of Radioshack Nissan.

High fives: Mark Cavendish celebrates stage win with his daughter Delaila

High fives: Mark Cavendish celebrates stage win with his daughter Delaila

All three were credited with the same time of four hours, 43 minutes and 15 seconds for the ride from Modena.

For world road race champion Cavendish it was his second stage success of this year's Giro, following his win in the second leg of the event, and the ninth of his career in the flagship Italian tour.

Three days ago, before the riders had a rest day, he suffered bruising and a gashed leg when he was involved in a pile-up caused by Roberto Ferrari in the closing moments of the third stage.

Back with a bang: Cavendish celebrates stage win

Back with a bang: Cavendish celebrates stage win

Cavendish's latest victory was spurred by
strong support from his Team Sky colleagues over the closing
kilometres, with Rigoberto Uran and Bernhard Eisel the first to shepherd
him before Peter Kennaugh and Geraint Thomas took over for the final
sprint.

Cavendish stands fifth in the overall standings, a place ahead of
Thomas, with the pink jersey still belonging to Garmin Barracuda's
Lithuanian rider Ramunas Navardauskas, who leads the way from team-mates
Robert Hunter and Ryder Hesjedal.

Just pucker: Lithuanian rider Ramunas Navardauskas on the podium after retaining the leader's pink jersey

Just pucker: Lithuanian rider Ramunas Navardauskas on the podium after retaining the leader's pink jersey

More to follow

Mark Cavendish crashes out of Giro d"Italia

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Disaster for Cavendish as British star crashes out of Giro d'Italia

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UPDATED:

15:00 GMT, 7 May 2012

Team Sky's Mark Cavendish crashed out of the Giro d'Italia as Matthew Goss won Stage Three of the 2012 edition.

Cavendish and Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing) both crashed out but Goss (Orica-Green Edge) kept out of trouble to secure his first victory of the season.

Crashing out: Cavendish (centre) falls 100 metres from the finish line

Crashing out: Cavendish (centre) falls 100 metres from the finish line

Goss' team dominated in the final kilometres of the race, only going to the front inside the final two kilometres to deliver Orica's first Grand Tour stage win in four hours 20 minutes 53 seconds.

Juan Jose Heado (Saxo Bank) and Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Barracuda) finished second and third on the stage.

Despite crashing out, Phinney retained the overall leader's pink jersey.

Today's 190km stage was from Horsens to Horsens and was dedicated to the memory of Wouter Weylandt, who died during the 2011 Giro d'Italia, and the mayor of Horsens Jan Trojborg who died yesterday.

Before the start, riders from Weylandt's Radioshack Nissan Trek team lined up at the front of the peloton, with his close friend Farrar of the Garmin-Barracuda team.

The general director of RCS Sport Michele Acquarone read a message of condolence in the presence of Weylandt's family and the assistant mayor of Horsens remembered Jan Trojborg.

The ceremony concluded with a minute's silence. Cavendish Tweeted: 'Remembering Wouter Weylandt, who sadly left us a year ago today.'