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With Columbia-HTC’s Mark Cavendish having won four of this year’s nine road stages, it would be easy to assume his sprint victories have come as easily as he makes it appear. However looks can be deceiving. On Wednesday the 24-year-old from the Isle of Man equaled his tally of Tour stage wins from last year’s Tour, and in doing so matched the record number of stage wins by a British rider; he also took back the green jersey from Cervélo’s Thor Hushovd.

Five-time Tour de France champion Bernard Hinault has never been one to hold his tongue. A month before the Tour started, the last French Tour winner lashed out at just about everyone in an infamous interview, lambasting riders and sport directors alike. VeloNews European correspondent Andrew Hood sat down with Hinault this week to get his assessment of how the race is shaping up midway through the 2009 Tour de France and the “Badger” was at his cantankerous best. Here are excerpts from the interview:

Dear readers, It’s Tour time and that means that for many of you, you’re first dose of VeloNews.com comes in the form of a visit to our Live Update page. As many of you know, we’ve switched formats since last year and that allows us to read many of your questions directly in our update editing tool. Over the course of the last 11 stages, we’ve had quite a few repeat questions pop up, so I thought I’d try to turn this edition of the Explainer into a sort of FAQ page for folks who stop in to check up on the Tour.

They said stage 11’s uphill finish would certainly shed Mark Cavendish, opening the door for someone else to win. They were wrong. With his trusty leadout Columbia-HTC train of George Hincapie and then Mark Renshaw setting him up at the front of the peloton, Cavendish jumped on the uphill sprint finish of stage 11 to take the win ahead of Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) and Thor Hushovd (Cervélo TestTeam). The bunch finish came at the end of Wednesday’s flat 192km stage from Vatan to Saint-Fargeau, following an all-day two-man breakaway that was caught with 5km to go.

Mark Renshaw: Columbia's lead-out man extraordinaire

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Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski is making room in his closet for another stars and stripes jersey. Maybe two.   Less than one month after taking the marathon cross-country national championship race, held at the Firecracker 50 race in Breckenridge, Colorado, Horgan-Kobelski comes into this weekend’s USA Cycling mountain bike national championships in nearby Granby as the odds-on favorite to win.  

Behind every great sprinter — or perhaps in front of — is a great lead-out man. Mario Cipollini had Giovanni Lombardi, Alessandro Petacchi had Marco Velo. Mark Cavendish, who is quickly establishing himself as the man to beat in the high-speed sprints, has found his man. Mark Renshaw, a 27-year-old Australian who joined the Columbia-HTC team this season, is the rider who delivers Cavendish to the line. Cavendish is quick to point out that the success is thanks to a team effort, but singled out Renshaw as the best in the business.

The Tour de France always showcases a wealth of new products. This year, we’ve seen helmets, shoes, saddles, pedals, and even a road frame or two. We’ll have a look at each over the course of the next few days.

Specialized Body Geometry S-Works road shoe

Editor's note: The Tour de France recently honored John Wilcockson for his remarkable 40 years of reporting. VeloNews.tv took the opportunity to salute him.

The Tour of Missouri is a go. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon on Tuesday rejected a state Department of Economic Development recommendation to pull $1.5 million in funding for the race. Last week the race's promoter said that if the money were pulled, the race would have to be canceled. "Even as my administration continues to tighten its belt, I believe that the 2009 Tour of Missouri should go forward," Nixon said in a statement. "The race will go on this year." Nixon called for a more transparent accounting of how the money is spent, however.

Sure, Bastille Day is the day France celebrates its Revolution, but it also marks the mid-point of this year's Tour. Casey Gibson was out on the road during Stage 10 and sees that the French know how to celebrate both.

The Saxo Bank team suffered a setback Tuesday when Norwegian road champion Kurt-Asle Arvesen was forced out of the race after suffering a broken collarbone in a heavy crash during the 10th stage. The 34-year-old Norwegian champion, who won the 11th stage on last year's Tour, fell after 87km trying to avoid a spectator who had fallen into the road. He finished the stage, but was obviously in great pain as he pedaled near the back of the peloton. Saxo Bank spokesman Bryan Nygaard confirmed the bad news.

The chance of a stage win is likely to tempt more than one of the peloton's more agile sprinters in the 11th stage of the Tour de France on Wednesday. However, the likes of Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and Thor Hushovd Cervélo TestTeam) would do well to study the profile of the undulating 192km ride from Vatan to Saint Fargeau, which gets tricky inside the last 50km before ending on a slight incline. With only two Category 4 climbs the stage should, in theory, finish in a bunch sprint — although only those who can finish fast on a slight incline, including Hushovd and Freire, need apply.

Mark Cavendish (Columbia-HTC) won a leisurely, radio-free 10th stage of Tour de France on Tuesday. It was Bastille Day, and a breakaway full of Frenchmen declared independence early on, but the home crowd would have no reason to celebrate the finale — with a little help from George Hincapie and Mark Renshaw, Cavendish won yet another drag race to the line ahead of green jersey Thor Hushovd (Cervélo TestTeam) and Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream).

Luxemburger Frank Schleck admitted he struggled to cope with media focusing on his younger brother Andy during the first days of the Tour de France, a report said Tuesday. The Schlecks both race for the Saxo Bank team (formerly CSC) which last year helped Spaniard Carlos Sastre win the race. Despite Frank's obvious talent, though, younger brother Andy is considered the team's best hope of triumphing this year having won the Tour's white jersey in 2008 for the top placed rider under 25.