Another stage win for Mark Cavendish and he pulls the green jersey back on (pic fotoreporter sirotti)

Stage 11 of the Tour de France yesterday and Mark Cavendish grabbed his fourth stage win of the race to take back the green jersey from Thor Hushovd, while also matching his record of stage wins in 2008 and matching British rider Barry Hoban’s record of eight overall.

It doesn’t seem that anyone has the ability to contain the devastating sprint of the Columbia-HTC rider, though the finish of the 194.5km stage from Vatan to Saint-Fargeau was certainly a closer affair than the almost too easy finishes that have preceded yesterdays stage.

“There’s nothing better than a win. You can talk and plan at the dinner table but success is the biggest motivation,” Cavendish said. “We all know that if we do our job 100% right it’ll come out right. It’s a cliche but in our team it really is ‘all for one and one for all’.”

“There was a bit of an uphill at the finish but it wasn’t very long. I went for the line with 150 metres to go, not 200 metres to go, and I knew some guys would try to come back at me on the final but that was the only real difference it made.”

Cavendish thanked his team for having put him in a strong position to take his second straight victory in two days. “It’s amazing to have guys like Tony Martin working for you, when you think he’s leading the Best Young Rider’s competition and has a top-ten place overall. That shows just how dedicated and professional they are and I can’t thank them enough.”

It was a mostly undramatic stage. Johan Van Summeren and Marcin Sapa stayed away from the peloton until the last 20km of the stage and were eventually pulled back when the Columbia-HTC organised its sprint train which has been so devastatingly effective.

There was no change in the General Classification. Rinaldo Nocentini retains the yellow with Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong second and third.

View the profile of today’s stage 12. It should be another potential victory for Cavendish.