On Le Fête Nationale, Bastille Day, the fireworks were supplied, not by a Frenchman, but by a Brit.Mark Cavendish (Team Columbia - HTC), technically from the Isle of Man, showed that he had enough firepower to light up the overcast skies over the Stage 10 finishing town of Issoudun as he easily took the sprint in front of Thor Hushovd (Cervelo Test Team) and Tyler Farrar (Garmin - Slipstream).
No other man, or more specifically Frenchman, was even close.
It is true that Manxman is currently considered as "the fastest man on two wheels," but on this day of French national pride and in what is considered the greatest bicycle race, La Grand Boucle, on the racing calendar, it seems as if the country that produced great champions such as Hinault and Anquetil is now bone dry of them.
Despite their three victories in ten stages of this year's Tour de France, French road cycling has been surpassed by every other cycling country, even tiny Luxembourg, which boasts serious Tour contenders in the Brothers Schleck and Cavendish's teammate, Kim Kirchen.
The same, however, cannot be said of the French National Track Cycling Team, which is one of the world's finest programs and has at least beaten their British counterparts with some regularity in recent times.
If only the French could transfer some of that talent to the road, as Britain clearly has in Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins (Team Garmin - Slipsteam), then France may have something more to celebrate than what transpired in 1789 (and no that isn't the last time a Frenchman won the Tour de France).
- See more of Cavendish, with teammate George Hincapie and Lance Armstrong on LIVESTRONG.com
1. Mark Cavendish (Team Columbia - HTC)
2. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo Test Team)
3. Tyler Farrar (Garmin - Slipstream)
General Classification After Stage 10
1. Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
2. Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana
3. Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana
4. Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana
5. Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin - Slipstream
6. Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana
7. Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia - HTC
8. Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin - Slipstream
9. Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank
10. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas
Thor Hushovd did just enough in the sprint to keep the maillot vert on his shoulders and off a very anxious Cavendish, whose appetite for green is becoming voracious.
Jersey Leader's After Stage 10
Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team
Egoi Martinez (Spa) Euskatel-Euskadi
Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia - HTCNext: Stage 11 - Vatan to Saint Fargeau (192 km)
Another day for the sprinter's...or will a breakaway succeed? Follow our commentary on the daily live blogging feed on LIVESTRONG.com
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