June 15, 2010. In the final tune up race prior to the Tour de France, Mark Cavendish (in the white and yellow livery) of Team HTC-Columbia veered off line approaching the finish of stage 4 in the Tour of Switzerland. The cyclist was sanctioned 25 points in the sprinter competition and 30 seconds on the general classification. He also is being fined 200 Swiss francs. Heinrich Haussler who was barged by Cavendish had to retire from the race due to a large cut on his arm. Alessandro Petacchi of Team Lampre escaped the carnage for the win Cavendish, who is arguably the strongest sprinter in the world, is also known as being extremely aggressive in bunch sprints. The estimated speed of the peleton was around 45 mph when the crash occurred. Several bikes were also demolished in the crash, each costing around 000.
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