Following on from his two fingered gesture to media & fans,  Mark Cavendish conitues to endear himself to his peers and race organisers:

"The road ate my wheel..."

Cavendish was held responsible for the mass crash in the final sprint of Tuesday's stage and penalised for changing his line and putting his colleagues in danger.

And riders from the Cervelo, Caisse d'Epargne and AG2R teams, whose colleagues Heinrich Haussler, Arnaud Coyot and Lloyd Mondory were forced to quit the race because of their injuries expressed their anger at the attitude of HTC-Columbia's Cavendish.

"We just want to send a message to Cavendish to ask him for more respect," said AG2R sporting director Gilles Mas, whose team rider Sebastien Hinault was elbowed by the British rider in the fourth stage.

Bystanders claimed that Cavendish responded to criticism from riders after Tuesday's incident by spitting on the ground on front of them.