Mark Cavendish struggled yesterday as the Tour de France entered the Pyrenees for its ninth stage.

The Laxey rider came in just over 28 minutes behind stage winner Riccardo Ricco, but inside the time limit.

The Italian broke away from the main pack in the last 30km and reeled in four riders who'd earlier left the peloton.

He quickly opened up a lead of over a minute on the main pack as he went over the summit and held on for another impressive victory to match his sprint to the line in stage six.

The race stays in the mountains for today's tenth stage, which is a daunting 156km ride from Pau to Hautacam that contains the super-category Col du Tourmalet.

Tomorrow sees the riders take a rest day.