TERAMO, Italy, May 17, 2011 – British sprint ace Mark Cavendish won the 10th stage of the Tour of Italy, a 159km ride from Termoli, on Tuesday just hours after he was accused of cheating by two of his rivals.

Cavendish edged out fellow spring specialists Francisco Ventoso and Alessandro Petacchi – Spain’s controversial three-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador retained the leader’s pink jersey.

Contador Retains Pink Jersey On 2011 Giro Stage 10

A delighted Cavendish told Italian TV at the finish: “The team was incredible today, we did all the work and the finish was perfect.”

Cavendish would have been especially delighted to have edged out Ventoso, who was one of the two riders who earlier on Tuesday accused him of being towed up Mount Etna in Sunday’s stage.

Cavendish arrived just 25 seconds inside the stage cut-off point, which had he missed would have meant the end of his participation in the race.

“He should only be happy that he’s still in the race, he should have been disqualified for being attached to the car for a long time during the climb on Etna,” said Ventoso.

“It’s shameful, everyone else kills themselves to get to the top inside the cut off time while someone else holds onto a car without the authorities intervening.”

Garmin sprinter Murilo Fischer added on his Twitter page: “Incredible, he says he wants to win a stage at any cost and he does 10km holding onto a car.”

While Cavendish refused to comment according to La Gazzetta dello Sport, his team’s sports director Valerio Piva denied the allegations.

Tuesday’s stage was livened-up by a three-man breakaway of Japan’s Fumiyuki Beppu, Pierre Cazaux and Yuriy Krivtsov, who jumped away in the first kilometer but were caught 11km from home.

HTC took the lion’s share of the chase work alongside Contador’s Saxo Bank team but three kilometres out Briton David Millar of Garmin made a solo break for home.

He was caught one kilometer out as Movistar led out the sprint finish but Cavendish stuck to Petacchi’s wheel and timed his burst just right.

Contador leads the overall standings from Kanstantsin Sivtsov and Christophe Le Mevel.

Stage
1. Mark Cavendish (GBR/HTC) 4hr 00min 49sec
2. Francisco Ventoso (ESP/MOV) same time
3. Alessandro Petacchi (ITA/LAM)
4. Roberto Ferrari (ITA/AND)
5. Davide Appollonio (ITA/SKY)
6. Francesco Chicchi (ITA/QST)
7. Klaas Lodewyck (BEL/OLO)
8. Sacha Modolo (ITA/COG)
9. Alexander Kristoff (NOR/BMC)
10. Oscar Gatto (ITA/FAR)
11. Borut Bozic (SLO/VAC)
12. Sergey Lagutin (UZB/VAC)
13. Matteo Montaguti (ITA/ALM)
14. Fabio Sabatini (ITA/LIQ)
15. Fabio Taborre (ITA/ASA)
16. Dennis van Winden (NED/RAB)
17. Manuel Belletti (ITA/COG)
18. Dario Cataldo (ITA/QST)
19. Manuel Cardoso (POR/RSH)
20. Inaki Isasi (ESP/EUS)

Selected
21. Christophe Le Mevel (FRA/GRM)
22. Michele Scarponi (ITA/LAM)
28. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/LIQ)
29. Alberto Contador (ESP/SAX)
30. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/AST)
49. Joaquin Rodriguez (ESP/KAT)
60. Richie Porte (AUS/SAX)
83. Denis Menchov (RUS/GEO)
87. Carlos Sastre (ESP/GEO) all same time as winner
Did not finish
Adam Blythe (GBR/OLO)

Overall
1. Alberto Contador (ESP/SAX) 37hr 04min 40sec
2. Kanstantsin Siutsou (BLR/HTC) at 59sec
3. Christophe Le Mevel (FRA/GRM) 1min 19sec
4. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/LIQ) 1:21.
5. Michele Scarponi (ITA/LAM) 1:28.
6. David Arroyo (ESP/MOV) 1:37.
7. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/AST) 1:41.
8. Jose Serpa Perez (COL/AND) 1:47.
9. Dario Cataldo (ITA/QST) 2:21.
10. Matteo Carrara (ITA/VAC) 2:21.
11. Igor Anton (ESP/EUS) 2:21.
12. Vasili Kiryienka (BLR/MOV) 2:30.
13. Stefano Garzelli (ITA/ASA) 2:39.
14. Francesco Masciarelli (ITA/AST) 2:49.
15. John Gadret (FRA/ALM) 2:55.
16. Steven Kruijswijk (NED/RAB) 2:56.
17. Hubert Dupont (FRA/ALM) 2:57.
18. Robert Kiserlovski (CRO/AST) 3:15.
19. Emanuele Sella (ITA/AND) 3:17.
20. Denis Menchov (RUS/GEO) 3:18.

Selected
22. Joaquin Rodriguez (ESP/KAT) 3:34.
26. Carlos Sastre (ESP/GEO) 4:57.
100. Richie Porte (AUS/SAX) 48:33.
170. Mark Cavendish (IDM/HTC) 1hr 16:40.
188. Matthew Wilson (AUS/GRM) 1hr 34:59.

Article:AFP
Photo: Corvos