Cavendish extends lead ahead of toughest TdF stages

Mark Cavendish extended his lead in the Tour de France green jersey standings today.

The 26-year-old HTC-Highroad star grabbed a point in the intermediate sprint during stage 17 from Gap to Pinerolo, while rivals Jose Joaquin Rojas and Philippe Gilbert picked up nothing.

Cavendish now leads Rojas by 35 points and is 70 ahead of Gilbert.

None of them were in the points at the end of the stage, the second of four consecutive mountainous ones in the Alps.

Tomorrow's will be a real test for the riders, long at just over 200km, with three hors category climbs (the highest level) during the route from Pinerolo to Gabilier Serre-Chevalier.