Tyler Farrar finishes second in Tour de France stage

SAINT-FARGEAU, France — Tyler Farrar has won bicycle races in Holland and Italy this year. But his impressive, yet frustrating, season includes a more global list of races he has nearly won.

For the second time at the Tour de France, Farrar finished second to Mark Cavendish of Great Britain in a four-hour-plus stage Wednesday through central France.

Eleven days ago, in Stage 2, Farrar also finished second to Cavendish. And in May, Farrar twice finished second in stages of the Giro d'Italia.

His split-second runner-up finishes in the Tour de France increased the Wenatchee rider's season total of second places to 11.

"It gets a little frustrating after a while," said the 25-year-old Farrar, competing in the Tour for the first time. "At first, it's, 'Yeah, I got second, I'm right there.' But when it's always second, always second, always second, I'm thinking, 'Come on, it's gotta be any day now.' "

Farrar, who rides for the Colorado-based Garmin-Slipstream team but lives in Ghent, Belgium, had his best opportunity for victory Wednesday in the fast-paced 11th stage from Vatan.

Approaching the finish, Farrar's teammates paced him near the front to again challenge Cavendish. Farrar had an ideal position after the final corner. He swung wide to the left of Cavendish and had an open lane. Farrar briefly closed on the stage winner, but could only narrow his deficit to slightly less than a bike length.

"The team was perfect," Farrar said. "I may have started a little late and I might have been a little hesitant. But I am feeling very strong, and I know I can win."

Farrar, a U.S. junior national champion in 2002, upset the 24-year-old Cavendish earlier in the season to win a stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico race in Italy in March.

"I think [Tyler] is the best sprinter of his generation — apart from Cavendish," Jonathan Vaughters, Farrar's team manager, told The Associated Press by telephone.

"Maybe he's not quite as fast, and he needs to figure out how to be a little bit more intelligent," Vaughters said. "And we need to figure out how to be a little bit better as a team.

"We're all just trying to figure out how to get around Cavendish."

Farrar, who crashed in Stage 6 and suffered bruised ribs, now has two seconds, a third and fourth in five sprint stages at the Tour. He's 163rd overall in the remaining field of 170, trailing race leader Rinaldo Nocentini of Italy by 1 hour, 26 minutes, 32 seconds.

Sprinters will have one more day to showcase their powerful late-race bursts today, before the race reaches the Alps. The 131.4-mile 12th stage will take the field from Tonnerre to Vittel, a city known for its water and spas.

The usual collection of sprinters will likely again emerge at the front. But the race hasn't had a solo breakaway and Stage 12, with six small climbs and a series of late-race undulations, offers the profile for a rider to try his luck alone.

"There may be an escape," said Farrar. "But I've been right there in the mix, and it's the kind of stage you never know. I'll just keep trying. I'm not concerned about Cavendish. I'm just focused on what I'm doing and what the team is doing."

Although not technically a sprinter's stage, Stage 19 next week might also allow Farrar to get to the front. And the final day, when the race ends with eight flat loops on the cobblestoned Champs Élysées in Paris on July 26, will afford sprinters another chance.

Notes

• Cavendish, who took over the Tour's green jersey as the leading sprinter, tied Barry Hoban's British record of eight Tour stage victories.

• Several riders fell after two early crashes — including Nocentini. "I was in a fall, but nothing too serious. I didn't hurt myself," Nocentini said.

• American Lance Armstrong finished safely in the main pack in 54th place and remains third overall. His Astana teammate, Spain's Alberto Contador, crossed the line 43rd and remains second overall.

"My favorite to win the Tour de France is Contador," said Garmin-Slipstream's Vaughters, a former teammate of Armstrong on the U.S. Postal team in the late 1990s.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.