Cavendish will go for his third straight win on Thursday.

The 2009 Tour de France continues its eastward journey across central France with Stage 12 running between Tonnerre and Vittel.

And as far as Mark Cavendish is concerned, he wants to win this one too. You see, he’s been riding on some kind of momentum lately that got him winning the last two races of the Tour. Thanks to Cavendish, the standings remain the same with Rinaldo Nocentini holding on to the yellow jersey, Alberto Contador second and Lance Armstrong remaining third overall.

The win also let Mark Cavendish take the green jersey from Thor Hushovd. ”I was able to get the jump on Thor and win, so it was perfect,” Cavendish said. ”It was just beautiful the way the guys could adapt to the situation and deliver me to the sprint.”

As big as this win was for Cavendish, don’t expect him to settle because we are entering to the crucial parts of the 2009 Tour de France where anything can happen, including Lance Armstrong catching up to the yellow jersey.

With stage 12 of the 2009 Tour de France running between Tonnerre and Vittel, the advantage now shifts to the breakaways as the race climbs six categorized climbs. None of the climbs on the menu are especially difficult. The constant up and down should enable the attackers to elude capture and contest the stage victory.

It’s a day of wine and water, as…

Nine stages have passed and Lance is still playing catch-up.

It’s been more of the same as far as the standings in the 2009 Tour de France is concerned. Rinaldo Nocentini has been hanging on to his spot on top and guess what, after nine stages, it hasn’t changed.

Yes, Nocentini is still hanging on to the yellow jersey Sunday as Frenchman Pierrick Fedrigo won the race’s ninth stage held over 160.5km from Saint Gaudens to Tarbes.

Fedrigo, who rides for the Bbox-Bouygues team, handed the hosts their third stage win from this year’s race after outsprinting breakaway companion Franco Pellizotti at the finish line. It is Fedrigo’s second stage win on the world’s biggest cycling tournament, having claimed his maiden win in 2006.

The main peloton containing all the race favorites came over the finish line 34 secs later, having failed to close the gap to the leading pair on the 70.1km descent leading from the summit of the Col du Tourmalet to Tarbes.

On the third and final day in the Pyrenees and ahead of the race’s first rest day on Monday, Rinaldo Nocentini maintained his 06-second lead on Spain’s 2007 Tour de France champion, Alberto Contador.

Lance Armstrong, Contador’s teammate at Astana, is…