CAV RIDES GIANT TO WIN NUMBER 3!!

Riding the Giant TCR Advanced SL bicycle, 23-year-old Mark Cavendish of Team Columbia won his 3rd stage of the Tour de France in a full field sprint at the finish line in Narbonne.

Cavendish, defeating older, more experienced sprinters like Robbie McEwen, Thor Hushvold, Robbie Hunter, and Erik Zabel, held up three fingers as he crossed the line at the end of a 900 meter finishing straight.

It was an exciting end to the 168 km Stage 12, especially in light of bad news for the Tour at the start of the day. The entire Saunier-Duval-Scott team was forced to withdraw from the Tour after a doping allegation against Ricardo Ricco, who won two mountain stages in this Tour and was King of the Mountains.

The entire Team Columbia squad led Cavendish to the finish line. Kim Kirchen and Kanstantsin Sivtsov were 16th and 17th on the stage. Kirchen is still in 7th in the General Classification, 1:56 behind the wearer of the Yellow Jersey, Cadel Evans of Silence-Lotto.

Team Columbia captain George Hincapie said at the end of the stage, “Our job is to keep the speed high, and then Cav-o does the rest on his own.” For his part, Mark Cavendish again paid tribute to the hard work of Team Columbia, saying, “It’s nice to pay them back with a win for their hard work…”

No team in the pro peloton has more wins this season than Team Columbia. The men and women of the team ride the Giant TCR Advanced SL bicycle.