Cavendish wins while teammate is ejected

BOURG-LES-VALENCE, France - Sprint specialist Mark Cavendish won the 11th stage of the Tour de France with help from an illegal head-butt from teammate Mark Renshaw, who was thrown out of the race Thursday for his aggressive tactics.

Andy Schleck of Luxembourg retained the overall race lead, cruising into the finish in the main pack after riding part of the stage while discussing a vacation with his main rival for the title, defending champion Alberto Contador.

The drama of the stage came on the final sprint, when Renshaw - the lead-out man for Cavendish on the HTC Columbia team - head-butted Julian Dean of Garmin-Transitions three times in an apparent bid to push him out of the way. Dean is the leadout man for American sprinter Tyler Farrar, who then appeared to be cut off by Renshaw in the closing meters.

"This is cycling, it's not wrestling," said course director Jean-Francois Pescheux, adding that the violation was "flagrant" and removing Renshaw from the race was necessary.

Cavendish rushed to the defense of Renshaw, claiming Dean attempted to elbow him. "Mark Renshaw fought to prevent the lane from being closed on him," Cavendish said through a translator on French TV.

Cavendish won his third stage win in this year's Tour on the 114.6-mile trek from Sisteron to Bourg-les-Valence. Alessandro Petacchi of Italy was second and Farrar third, all finishing in 4 hours, 42 minutes, 29 seconds.

Seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong, who has already ruled himself out of contention, finished in 114th place, 29 seconds behind the main pack, and is 17:51 off the lead in 32nd overall.