Cavendish seals historic hat-trick as drug shame looms over Tour

Cavendish became the first British rider to claim three stage victories in the same Tour as he outpaced fellow sprinters in the 104.7 miles from Lavelanet to Narbonne, but his achievements became a footnote on another depressing day.  

Cavendish (centre) celebrates his third stage win on stage twelve of the Tour

Italian rider Riccardo Ricco was the third rider in the race to test positive for the performance-enhancing drug EPO after Spain’s Moises Duenas Nevado and Manuel Beltran had already been thrown out of the race in disgrace.

Ricco’s Saunier-Duval team responded by withdrawing from the Tour. Sporting director Matxin Fernandez said: ‘It’s a team decision not to start the race. We can’t act as if nothing happened.’

British cyclist David Millar summed up competitors’ feelings, saying: ‘It’s irresponsible. This guy does not have any love or care for the sport.

‘We are learning things that look too good to be true are too good to be true.’

Cavendish can lay claim to being the best sprinter in the world

Stage winner Cavendish shared Millar’s frustration. He said: ‘It’s a massive disappointment for the organisers but what matters is that you get the cheats.’

Team Columbia’s 23-year-old rider from the Isle of Man, who will compete at next month’s Olympics, was delighted to claim another stage win, particularly after an early fall.

‘This was the hardest of the three stage wins,’ he said. ‘It was really windy and there was lots of argy-bargy in the final sprint, but I managed to win by a bike length. After getting through the Pyrenees, I was desperate to win for my team, who have worked so hard for me.’

By winning three stages, Cavendish surpasses the achievements of British sprinter Barry Hoban, who won two stages in both 1969 and 1973.

Cheerio: Ricco has withdrawn from the Tour following a positive test for EPO

But Cavendish would be stretching his reserves to take Friday's stage where a victory would remove another of Hoban’s records as the only Briton to win back-to-back stages in the Tour de France.

The result means the Team Columbia rider moves up to fifth place and within 41 points of Oscar Friere in the green jersey competition.

The battle for the yellow jersey took a back seat in transitional stage between the mountains. Australian Cadel Evans of the Silence-Lotto team retained the overall lead from Frank Schleck by one second.

Today — Stage 13: Narbonne-Nimes, 113.1 miles.