Cavendish tops rival for 4th victory

Brit nearly collides with German Kittel in sprint to finish.

VILLARS-LES-DOMBES, FRANCE — Mark Cavendish approached the finish line with so much speed that German rival Marcel Kittel swerved out of the way.

The “Manx Missile” easily sprinted to his fourth stage victory in the Tour de France on Saturday.

“I didn’t see it,” Cavendish said of the incident with Kittel. “I was in front of him.”

Finishing in the main pack during the 14th stage, Chris Froome had little trouble holding onto the yellow jersey.

“Today’s stage was quite welcome after the last few days of racing,” Froome said. “It was really nice to switch off a little bit and sit on the wheels inside the peloton.”

It was Cavendish’s 30th career Tour victory, putting him within four of Eddy Merckx’s record. The British sprinter held up four fingers after crossing the line.

Kittel threw up his arm in protest when Cavendish passed him.

“I saw Cavendish overtaking me and suddenly cornering me,” Kittel said. “I had to brake to avoid a crash. It’s not for me to say if he made a mistake.”

Cavendish analyzed it only after watching the replay.

“We were next to the barriers and it was him coming off the barriers more than anything,” Cavendish said.

Alexander Kristoff, a Norwegian with Katusha, crossed second, and world champion Peter Sagan was third.

“Cavendish is just faster right now,” Kristoff said. Kittel came fifth. “Kittel had already lost and stopped his effort. He had lost his focus. Maybe Cavendish swerved a bit, but it’s nothing,” retired sprinter Laurent Jalabert said.

The peloton stopped for a minute of silence at the start of the stage in honor of the 84 victims of the truck attack in Nice.

Froome, French champion Arthur Vichot and other leaders of the Tour took their helmets off and stood still at the start line.

It was the first of three days of national mourning in France, and fans waved the country’s flag all along the 208.5-kilometer (130-mile) route from Montelimar to Villars-Les-Dombes, near Lyon.

Froome remained 1:47 ahead of second-place Bauke Mollema and 2:45 in front of third-place Adam Yates in the overall standings.

CHRIS GRAYTHEN / GETTY IMAGES Mark Cavendish of Britain sprints to his 30th career stage win in the Tour de France on Saturday, leaving him four shy of the record total.