Cavendish win comes at a cost as Renshaw out

THE 13th Tour de France stage win of Mark Cavendish’s career yesterday came at a cost as Mark Renshaw, the Briton’s HTC-Columbia leadout man, was expelled from the race for headbutting.

Cavendish, who won four stages in 2008 and six in 2009, claimed his third win of the 2010 Tour with a sprint victory on the 184.5-kilometre 11th stage from Sisteron to Bourg-les-Valence.

But the 25-year-old lost Renshaw for the remaining nine days of racing after the Australian was disqualified for three times using his head to push Team Garmin-Transitions rival Julian Dean, a New Zealander, out of his line.