Mark Cavendish opens his Giro account

Giro d'Italia 2011 stage 10 photo gallery by Graham Watson>>

Mark Cavendish opened his account at this year's Giro d'Italia by winning the bunch sprint into Teramo on Tuesday afternoon.

Cavendish came off Alessandro Petacchi's wheel with 150 metres to go of the slightly-uphill victory and carved past to win stage ten ahead of Francisco Ventoso (Movistar) and his Italian rival.

"I knew if I was behind Petacchi, I was in a better place, I could surprise him," Cavendish said.

The break, which went on the outskirts of the start town of Termoli, consisted of Fumiyuki Beppu (RadioShack), Yuri Krivtsov (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and Pierre Cazaux (Euskaltel-Euskadi).

Although the 156-kilometre stage represented the most straightforward leg of the race so far for many riders, Britain's Adam Blythe abandoned the race after 50 kilometres.

Sitting in last place overall after the Etna stage, the Omega Pharma-Lotto rider had been struggling with a niggling knee injury.

After the leading trio were pulled back twelve kilometres from the finish, former maglia rosa and in-form man David Millar (Garmin-Cervelo) shot out of the bunch with a late attack, but he was brought back with 1,000 metres to go.

Cavendish sat on Alessandro Petacchi's wheel as Movistar opened the sprint for Ventoso. In the slightly-uphill final 150 metres, he sprinted past smoothly to secure his third win of the year.

Revenge mission

It was revenge for Petacchi's controversial weave in Parma last Sunday, which saw the Briton gesture angrily as he crossed the line. "What happened there made me even more hungry," Cavendish said after the finish.

Underlining the scarcity of opportunities for thoroughbred sprinters in this year's race, that was the last occasion Cavendish sprinted for the win.

Can the Manxman add a second stage win? With a hill-heavy route from Tortoreto Lido to Castelfidardo tomorrow, Thursday's pan-flat twelfth stage to Ravenna represents the last chance for the sprinters

Aberto Contador (Saxo Bank) finished safely in the bunch to remain in the overall lead of the race.

Results

Giro d'Italia 2011, stage 10: Termoli to Teramo, 156km

1. Mark Cavendish (GB) HTC-Highroad in 4-00-49

2. Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Movistar

3. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-ISD

4. Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Androni Giocattoli

5. Davide Appollonio (Ita) Team Sky

6. Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Quick Step

7. Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto

8. Sacha Modolo (Ita) Colnago-CSF Inox

9. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) BMC Racing Team

10. Oscar Gatto (Ita) Farnese Vini-Neri Sottolli

General classification after stage 10

1. Alberto Contador (Spa) Saxo Bank-Sungard

2. Kanstantin Sivtsov (Blr) HTC-Highroad at 59 secs

3. Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Garmin-Cervelo at 1-19

4. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale at 1-21

5. Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre-ISD at 1-28

6. David Arroyo (Spa) Movistar at 1-37

7. Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Astana at 1-41

8. Jose Serpa (Col) Androni Giocattoli at 1-47

9. Dario Caldato (Ita) Quickstep at 2-21

10. Matteo Carrara (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM at 2-21

David Millar launched a late attack but was caught by the bunch

The sprinters head towards the line

Mark Cavendish celebrates his win

Alberto Contado rmaintains the race lead

Giro d'Italia 2011: Latest news

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Giro d'Italia 2011: Stage reports

Stage 10: Cavendish opens his Giro account

Stage nine: Contador storms Etna to take Giro lead

Stage eight: Gatto springs late attack to take win

Stage seven: Neo-pro De Clercq wins by a whisker

Stage six: Ventoso steals Giro stage six win

Stage five: Weening holds on to take stage and maglia rosa

Stage four: Tearful Farrar and Leopard-Trek lead riders across stage four finish line

Stage three: Vicioso victory overshadowed by Weylandt crash

Stage two: Petacchi wins as Cavendish takes lead

Stage one: HTC-Highroad wins Giro's opening team time trial

Giro d'Italia 2011: Photo galleries

Stage 10 photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage nine photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage eight photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage seven photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage six photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage five photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage four photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage three photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage two photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage one photo gallery by Graham Watson

Giro d'Italia 2011: Live text coverage

Giro d'Italia 2011 stage seven live text updates

Giro d'Italia 2011 stage five live text updates

Follow the 2011 Giro d'Italia live with Cycling Weekly

Giro d'Italia 2011: Start list

Giro d'Italia 2011: Start list

Giro d'Italia 2011: TV schedule

Giro d'Italia 2011: British Eurosport TV schedule

Related links

Giro d'Italia 2010: Cycling Weekly's coverage index