Oscar Freire’s fresh legs propel him to a sprint finish in todays 14th stage of the Tour de France.

Spanish Rabobank star sprinter beat Leonardo Duque (Cofidis), Erik Zabel (Milram) and the rest of the main field into Digne les Bains, defending his green jersey and moving closer to what would be a first-ever win in the sprinters classification.

Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) jumped clear on the descent and tried to hold on for a solo victory. He was caught with just over two kilometers to go, though, and the stage was set for the third bunch finish in as many days.

Mark Cavendish’s resent dominance came to an end when he lost contact on the climb and thus missed out on the sprint. He was lying second in the maillot vert classification but Freire stretched out his advantage over Cavendish and third-placed rider Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) with his victory.

Stage 14 results:
1 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank
2 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis
3 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram
4 Julian Dean (NZl) Garmin Chipotle - H30
5 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quick Step
6 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre
7 Rubén Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
8 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
9 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step
10 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole

Overall after stage 14:
1 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto
2 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 0.01
3 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle 0.38
4 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner 0.46
5 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 0.57
6 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 1.28
7 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Columbia 1.56
8 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale 2.32

50 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia 39.51