ST FARGEAU, France, (Reuters) – Mark Cavendish  strengthened his grip on the Tour de France sprints when he won  the 11th stage yesterday to equal Barry Hoban’s British  record of eight victories in the world’s greatest race.

The Isle of Man rider outsprinted American Tyler Farrar and  Yauheni Hutarovich of Belarus at the end of a 192km ride from  Vatan to St Fargeau to take his fourth win in this year’s Tour.

“It was slightly uphill so we knew it would be a different  sprint and we adapted to that situation,” Cavendish told a news  conference.
“We had to deliver me later so we had four guys in the last  kilometre instead of two. Again, it was just beautiful the way  the guys led me.”
Asked whether he felt there was no opposition on the field,  Cavendish said: “It is a massive, massive insult to say the guys are weak.”
Hoban won his eight stages from 1967 to ‘75, the last at the  age of 35, while the 24-year-old Cavendish is taking part in  only his second Tour.

Italian Rinaldo Nocentini retained the overall leader’s  yellow jersey six seconds ahead of Spain’s Alberto Contador with  American Lance Armstrong in third place eight seconds off the  pace.

Briton Bradley Wiggins moved back up to fifth after the race  jury decided to cancel a 15-second gap between two bunches in  the final part of Tuesday’s stage.

Communications between sports directors and their riders  were allowed after Tuesday’s experimental ban.
Earpieces were supposed to be banned again for tomorrow’s  stage to Colmar but the International Cycling Union (UCI) said  that its managing board was asked to vote on the matter  today following team managers’ protest.

Yesterday’s stage was marred by two early crashes that  allowed Belgian Johan Van Summeren and Marcin Sapa of Poland to  break away after 24km.

Nocentini was involved in one of them but avoided injury. “I fell but it was not serious, it was a quiet ride after  all,” the Italian said.
The duo built a maximum lead of 4 minutes 35 seconds before  the sprinters’ team used their collective force to rein in the  fugitives.
Cavendish’s Columbia team mates set up the perfect lead-out  for their sprinter, who resisted Farrar’s late burst of speed to  claim the green jersey for the points classification off  Norwegian Thor Hushovd’s shoulders.