Hunter claims first stage victory

MONTPELLIER, France -- South Africa's Robert Hunter claimed his first stage win in the Tour de France and the second for his unheralded Barloworld team as he sprinted to victory in Montpellier.

Hunter denied Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland his third stage win in this year's tour, the CSC rider banging his handlebars in frustration after leaving his sprint a fraction too late.

A crash in the final kilometer also hindered the chances of green jersey points leader Tom Boonen but the real drama had occurred earlier in the day in a stage run off at high speed.

French favorite Christophe Moreau suffered a crash after 30 kilometers and when the peloton split 70 kilometers from the finish under strong pressure from the Astana team the AG2R leader was left in the second group.

This also included points classification contenders Erik Zabel of the Milram team and Credit Agricole's Norwegian sprint ace Thor Hushovd.

By the finish, the time gap was three minutes 20 seconds and Moreau's hopes of overall victory were all but over as he slipped from sixth to 12th overall.

For Hunter, who has been prominent in several of the bunch sprint finishes, victory was sweet.

"I'm hugely happy. I cannot express what this means to me after being so close so many times."

"It was a very difficult stage, there was a lot of wind. It was not easy to win in such a crazy finish," added Hunter, who is the first South African to win a Tour stage.

His Barloworld teammate Mauricio Soler of Colombia had given the South African squad their first win in the final mountain stage in the Alps on Tuesday.

Race leader Michael Rasmussen of the Rabobank team avoided problems on a difficult day and keeps the yellow jersey ahead of Saturday's first individual time trial.

The 54 kilometer test around Albi is likely to lead to a shake up in the individual standings. E-mail to a friend