OSCAR FREIRE of Spain won the 14th stage of the Tour de France yesterday as the sprinters finally got one over on Britain’s Mark Cavendish after his four stage wins.

The 194.5km leg from Nimes to the foothills of the Alps was a steady climb all the way, featuring a fourth-category climb 10km from the finish.

Cavendish’s squad, Team Columbia, did much of the chasing to keep the day’s four-man escape group in check, although it was to set up their other sprinter, Germany’s Gerald Ciolek, rather than Cavendish.

Freire beat Colombian Leonardo Duque of Cofidis and Germany’s Erik Zabel (Milram) on the line. Cavendish was dropped on the final climb and finished the stage 108th, three minutes and 27 seconds back. With the Madison at the Olympics in Beijing a month away, he may pull out to have time to recover.

The stage victory extended Freire’s lead in the points competition, making him the favourite for the green jersey as the race goes into the Alps.

Four riders tried to deny the sprinters by breaking away from the pack in the first hour. In the closing stages they started attacking each other before finally being caught.

Yellow jersey holder Cadel Evans, of Australia, finished safely in the bunch, in 28th place, and will defend the narrowest of leads today as the race heads to the Italian Alpine resort Prato Nevoso. He is one second ahead of Luxembourg’s Frank Schleck. There are five riders within a minute of each other overall.

Today’s 15th stage is 183km from Embrun to Prato Nevoso, finishing at the top of the first-category mountain.