Mark Cavendish became the most successful Briton on the Tour de France when he snatched his ninth win in the 19th stage on Friday. Cavendish outsprinted Norway's Thor Hushovd after 178km from Bourgoin-Jallieu, with German Gerald Ciolek coming home third. The Team Columbia rider beat the record eight career stage wins of Barry Hoban as he showed unbeatable form on the final straight to cross the line first for the fifth time this year. Hoban won eight stages from 1967 to 1975, the last at the age of 35, while the 24-year-old Cavendish is taking part in only his second Tour. “I promised to the guys that I would do something nice if they would help me in the (final) climb,” said Cavendish. “They are all fantastic lads.” Spain's Alberto Contador retained the yellow jersey with a four minutes 11 seconds lead over Luxemburg's Andy Schleck despite being trapped in a late split with other top guns. “You can lose the Tour everyday and today, I kind of slowed down by the end because of the rain,” said the Astana rider. “I would like tomorrow's stage to be quiet although I know it's not what the fans want,” he added with a smile. “This Tour has been extremely difficult, I am savoring it twice as much as I would have normally.” American Lance Armstrong, third overall, gained four seconds in the incident to move 1:10 behind Schleck. Going into Saturday's showdown to the top of Mont Ventoux, the American seven-time champion has a 15-second lead over fourth-placed Bradley Wiggins of Britain. A 20-man breakaway shaped up in the early stages on Friday, notably featuring Australian Cadel Evans who was out to make up for his calamitous Tour so far. Evans started the stage in 29th position overall 38:20 off the pace. The fugitives were caught shortly before the ascent to the second-category Col de l'Arenier. France's Laurent Lefevre tried his luck as soon as the road went skyward and was later joined by world champion Alessandro Ballan of Italy. The duo built a 20-second advantage before Cavendish's Columbia team pulled the peloton as a storm broke. Ballan and Lefevre were swallowed up with just over one km to go, with Cavendish's teammates setting up the Briton for another brilliant sprint to victory. Hushovd retained the green jersey with a 25-point lead over Cavendish, who will have to hope the Norwegian faulters on the Champs Elysees if he is to top the sprinters' standings on Sunday.
