Delight: Alexandre Vinokourov crosses the finish line to win the 13th stageBritain's Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) finished second, leading the peloton over the line 13 seconds behind.
Controversial Kazakh Alexandre Vinokourov won the 13th stage of the Tour de France.
Vinokourov, who returned from a two-year ban for blood doping last autumn, attacked on the day's final climb, the 1.9-kilometre category three ascent of Saint-Ferreol, to win the 196km race from Rodez to Revel
Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-Farnese) finished third and Team Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen was fourth.
Points classification leader Thor Hushovd (Cervelo Test Team) was eighth.
Cavendish began the day seeking to overcome a 35-point deficit to Hushovd.
The top of the Saint-Ferreol climb was just 7.5km from the finish and Cavendish was aiming to be in contention at the summit.
The 1.9km climb was the day's fifth categorised ascent as the race made the transition towards the Pyrenees.
Comparisons were made with the finish to the Milan-San Remo classic, which Cavendish - three times a stage winner at the 2010 Tour - famously won in March 2009.
Like that day, Cavendish was in contention today but he did not count for Vinokourov's acceleration up the incline which saw the Astana rider solo to the finish line.
Pace man: Alessandro Petacchi and Mark Cavendish lead the pursuit However, Cavendish's 30 points for finishing second now sees him third in the points classification, 25 points behind Petacchi, who reclaimed the green jersey from Hushovd.
Tomorrow's 184.5km stage from Revel to Ax-3-Domaines could impact on the general classification standings led by Andy Schleck.
The 14th stage features two categorised climbs - the hors categorie (beyond category) 15.5km ascent of Port de Pailheres and the 7.8km category one climb to Ax-3-Domaines.
The overall rankings were unchanged today, with Schleck (Team Saxo Bank) in possession of a 31-second lead over Alberto Contador (Astana), with the remainder of the field over two minutes further behind.
Team Sky's Juan Antonio Flecha was in the day's three-man break.
The escape began after 4.5km, with Spaniard Flecha joined by two Frenchmen - Pierrick Fedrigo (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) and QuickStep's Sylvain Chavanel, who has won two stages and worn the race leader's yellow jersey already.
All three riders previously won Tour stages, with 32-year-old Flecha taking his 2003 win in nearby Toulouse.
Sprint finish: Mark Cavendish of Britain, right, crosses the line to claim secondThe escapees had a maximum lead of six minutes, but the peloton, led by HTC-Columbia and Lampre-Farnese never allowed them to fully prosper.
The break was caught with 10km remaining, before the final climb, with Flecha
named the day's most aggressive rider.
The attacks began, with Alessandro Ballan (BMC Racing) going ahead alone.
Vinokourov led the pursuit of Ballan and overtook the former world champion.
Thomas Voeckler (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) responded and was second over the summit to Vinokourov, who broke away on the descent and finished first.
Earlier, Lance Armstrong's miserable Tour continued.
The 38-year-old Team RadioShack leader announced in June this month's race would be his final Tour.
However, his hopes of an eighth title ended prematurely when he fell out of overall contention with an incident-filled eighth stage.
Today, the seven-time champion crashed in the neutralised zone before racing began in Rodez.
He recovered and was swiftly back among the peloton.
But he was dropped ahead of the final climb and finished in 100th place, four minutes 35 seconds behind
source: dailymail
