Mark Cavendish of Britain won a sprint to take the fifth - and longest - stage of the Tour de France yesterday, and German rider Stefan Schumacher held on to the leader's yellow jersey.

Cavendish beat Oscar Freire of Spain and veteran German sprinter Erik Zabel on the line at the end of the 232-kilometer flat stage from Cholet to Chateauroux.

Three Frenchmen - Lilian Jegou, Nicolas Vogondy and Florent Brard - hit the front after 11 kilometers and at one point had a lead of more than eight minutes. However, the field never seemed concerned, and the riders worked together to catch the breakaway almost on the finish line.

"It's the biggest thing that's happened to me," the 23-year-old Cavendish said. "To win a stage of the Tour is a massive thing. I came here with the intention of winning one. It just means so, so much to me."

Cavendish had been disappointed that Monday's third stage was won by a breakaway, giving no opportunity for the sprinters to fight out the victory.

Cavendish, who comes from the Isle of Man, was selected by British Cycling on Tuesday to ride the madison on the track at the Beijing Olympics along with Bradley Wiggins. The pair won the world championships in the event in March. He is not slated to compete in the road races.

Schumacher held on to his 12-second overall lead from Kim Kirchen of Luxembourg and David Millar of Britain.

Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde, who is among the overall Tour contenders, hit debris in the road about 80 kilometers into the stage and went over his handlebars. He injured his right arm, right knee and calf, but got back on his bike and continued riding.

French cyclist Aurelien Passeron hit a female spectator about five kilometers from the end of the race. Passeron got back on his bike and continued.

Colombian rider Juan Mauricio Soler, who has ridden with injured wrists since crashing in Saturday's first stage, pulled out of the race early into the stage. He was the King of the Mountains champion as the Tour's best climber last year.

His Barloworld team said a scan had confirmed a fracture in the right hand of Soler, who felt so much pain when he held his handlebars that he was in danger of crashing. "In agreement with Mauricio, we decided to wait two days after the crash to see if things improved, but we've had to accept that it is impossible for Soler to carry on in the Tour," team manager Claudio Corti said.

"I couldn't even brake, it was painful each time I tried so it was starting to become dangerous for me," said the Colombian, who will now go home to Italy to consult a specialist.

It is the second setback for the Colombian this year at a major Tour. At the Giro d'Italia he also crashed in the opening stages.

Soler won his first stage upon his Tour debut last year, at Briancon in the Alps. That win, and his polka dot jersey, allowed him to be voted his country's sports personality of the year in 2007.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily July 10, 2008)