NICKI SORENSEN broke clear late on from a long-time breakaway group of seven riders to win Stage 12 of the Tour de France as sprint king Mark Cavendish spent a well-deserved day in the peloton.

Nicki Sorensen broke clear late on from a long-time breakaway group of seven riders to win Stage 12 of the Tour de France today.

The riders in the Tour de France are facing into a 212km flat stage from Tonnerre to Vittel today.

MARK CAVENDISH hailed his team-mates after regaining the green jersey with victory in stage 11 of the Tour de France yesterday – his fourth triumph in 2009.

MARK CAVENDISH won his third stage on the 2009 Tour de France yesterday, a 194.5-kms trek ridden at a leisurely pace in an implicit protest by the riders at a radio-ban by organisers.

Mark Cavendish produced yet another superb sprint today to take his third stage win as the Tour de France reached Issoudun.

The Tour de France resumes today, with the riders facing a 195km trek through the central part of the country from Limoges to Issoudun.

Luis-Leon Sanchez produced a masterful late charge in a four-man sprint finish to claim stage eight of the Tour de France today.

RINALDO NOCENTINI claimed the yellow jersey on a day race favourite Alberto Contador flexed his muscles in the Tour de France’s first mountain stage.