Robert Hunter, racing for the Barloworld team, won the 11th stage of the Tour de France to record the first stage victory for a South African in the 104-year history of the race.

Hunter sprinted to the finish of the 182.5 kilometres course from Marseille to Montpellier, in a time of 3 hours 27 minutes and 50 seconds, pushing Fabian Cancellara into second place. Brazillian Murilo Fischer finished third.

"I'm really happy," Hunter said. "I have no words to describe what I'm feeling right now. I've done the Tour de France six times, and I'm the first South African ever to ride in it."

Hunter's Barloworld team has now won two stages on its debut Tour, following Colombian Juan Mauricio Soler's triumph in the ninth stage on Tuesday.

Hunter won in 3 hours, 47 minutes, 50 seconds, outpacing second-place Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland and Murilo Fischer of Brazil in third. The main pack of riders finished in the same time.

In the overall standings, Denmark's Michael Rasmussen retained the yellow jersey. He is 2min 35sec ahead of second-place Alejandro Valverde, and 2min 39sec in front of Iban Mayo in third.

The day's biggest loser in the overall race was Christophe Moreau, who dropped to 14th place to be 6.38mins behind Rasmussen. The Frenchman came into the day's stage in sixth place, 3.18mins back.

Moreau crashed along with his AG2R Prevoyance teammate Simon Gerrans of Australia at the 31-kilometer (19-mile) mark, shredding his uniform over his left thigh. He got back up and into the pack.

"There's no panic. (He) just got scraped up on the shoulder and thigh," AG2R sporting director Vincent Lavenu said. "It's not serious for the rest of the Tour."

But with about 64 kilometers (39.8 miles) left, Alexandre Vinokourov's Astana team accelerated, splitting the main pack in two — leaving Moreau and the small group trailing far behind.