Tour de France Update: Going Green

Text by Christian Camerota

Forget Lance Armstrong for the time being. Mark Cavendish is turning green.

Britain's Cavendish won his second consecutive stage today, finishing first in the 192-kilometer ride from Vatan to Saint Fargeau, and capturing the green jersey (designating the best sprinter in the tour) from Thor Hushovd of Norway. The win was his fourth of the tour and likely not his last, as tomorrow's 211.5-kilometer ride from Tonnerre to Vittel is also quite flat and likely to yield another sprint finish.

Overall leader Rinaldo Nocentini of Italy suffered a scare about 20 miles in when he was involved in a crash in the peloton. He emerged generally unscathed, however, and was able to maintain his six-second lead on Alberto Contador and eight-second lead on Lance Armstrong by catching up and finishing with the peloton (all riders in a large group are given the same finishing time to avoid dangerous mass sprints).

Looking ahead toward the weekend, things should start to get quite interesting on Friday, as riders enter one of the first significantly mountainous stages of the Tour. The stakes could be raised even higher if Tour officials decide to enforce the planned radio ban on Stage 13, as team coordination and cooperation are particularly important during climbs and descents.