MONTPELLIER, France — Tyler Farrar of Wenatchee, Wa., finished second while nemesis Mark Cavendish of Great Britain claimed his fourth stage Sunday in the 15th stage and second-to-last sprinters’ stage of the Tour de France.
Cavendish took a line near the right railing and was victorious in the 119.9-mile stage from Limoux by about a bike length in 4 hours, 20 minutes and 24 seconds. It was Cavendish’s 19th career Tour de France stage win and the 75th career victory since he turned pro in 2007.
Farrar (Garmin-Cervelo) rode as expected behind several teammates as per the tradition of sprinters’ stages. He was in fourth place with less than 100 yards left, but moved to the left and passed Italians Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) and Daniel Oss (Liquigas).
Farrar, who won stage 3, also finished third in stage 11 was also part of his team’s time trial win in stage in stage 2.
With the field largely finishing together, there were no changes among the top 10 in the overall standings. Thomas Voeckler (Movistar) of France maintained his race lead for the seventh straight day.
Voeckler, who for several days has said he expects to lose the race lead, has a 1 minute, 49 second advantage over Frank Schleck (Leopard-Trek) of Luxembourg and a 2:06 margin over Cadel Evans (BMC) of Australia. Tom Danielson (Garmin0-Cervelo) of Boulder, Colo., is ninth overall as leads the eight remaining Americans while trailing by 5:46.
The field has its second and final rest day Monday before three consecutive mountain stages in the Alps begin Tuesday with the 16th stage. It’s a 100.9-mile journey from Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux to Gap.
The 15th stage included a category 4 (the least difficult) climb about 50 miles into the stage. Three riders lead the field into the final five kilometers. But they were caught as the main field approached the line together with teams working their sprinters into position.
The race’s 98th edition continues through Sunday with the final sprinters’ stage, a 59-mile effort from Creteil to the Champs Elysees in Paris.
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