Mark Cavendish is never one to enjoy coming second in a head-to-head battle with another specialist sprinter, but Tuesday's last-gasp defeat at the hands of his former team-mate André Greipel will be particularly hard to take. With 150 metres to go in the main street of a small former coalmining town in the Tarn, the Manxman experienced the unwelcome sensation of being overhauled by a man to whom he had never previously given best.

For Greipel, making his Tour debut in the month of his 29th birthday, this was a resounding first stage win. Cavendish's consolation came with a haul of points that puts him closer to the two riders ahead of him in the competition for the green jersey, Philippe Gilbert and José Joaquín Rojas.

The rivalry between Cavendish and Greipel began when they both joined T-Mobile in 2006 and continued through the team's various incarnations as Highroad, Columbia and HTC. Conflict flared during their second year, when Cavendish was expected to lead out the German rider, who is almost three years older, in a sprint during the Etoile de Bessèges stage race, but kept going to finish second, with Greipel nowhere.

A series of spats ensued over the years, with Greipel describing Cavendish as "selfish" on more than one occasion. "Me on bad form is still better than Greipel," the Manxman retorted. At the end of last season, complaining that he was being overlooked, Greipel left to join Omega Pharma-Lotto. Born in Rostock, like the 1997 Tour winner Jan Ullrich, Greipel had never before selected to ride in the Tour, and last Friday in Châteauroux he and Cavendish took each other's direct measure in a finish for the first time in their careers. After Greipel had come off second best, the winner made a remark about not having needed to use all his available power. According to the German, they made it up afterwards.

"We had a chat after the stage and he said he had a big respect for my sprint," Greipel said. "I couldn't hold him in Châteauroux but I tried to surprise him today. On Friday I didn't have the legs in the last 50m but here I managed to get on his wheel. I have a lot of respect for Cav. He's won 17 stages. Now I've got one."

Cavendish had hit the front with one big bend to go. "It was a flat finish so I tried to go at 250m off Rojas's wheel," he said. "I didn't hesitate but I didn't commit early enough. I kind of rolled round Rojas on the last corner and kicked with 170m to go and Greipel just came past and beat me. I'm happy for him. I feel I made a mistake but Greipel beat me so there's nothing I can say about that."

After an unusually welcome day of rest following the string of lurid accidents that punctuated the Tour's first nine stages, the quick and the half-dead got back to business yesterday with a short (158km), lumpy stage beginning in Aurillac, a small town in the Cantal known for its umbrella manufacturing, which was just as well when a sunny morning gave way to a hailstorm in time for the departure. An early crash involved Robert Gesink, Fabian Cancellara, and the perennially accident-prone Levi Leipheimer, but without serious consequences.

Johnny Hoogerland reported for further duty, having wept on the podium on Sunday night when receiving the polka-dot jersey after the dreadful accident in which he was pitched into a barbed-wire fence. Copious bandages covered the lacerations which made him look as though his nether regions had been savaged by a shark. As if that were not enough of an ordeal, the poor chap was woken at 7am on Tuesday by the dope testers.

The day brought no change in the standings for the various jerseys, meaning Thomas Voeckler was able to start and finish the day in the maillot jaune gained as a result of his second place in Saint-Flour on Sunday. The Frenchman's timing was excellent, since his home village is in the Cantal, a bucolic region of the Auvergne where the loudest noise is the ringing of cowbells. Voeckler's previous experience of the maillot jaune came in 2004, when he wore it for 10 days until Lance Armstrong moved in to claim his seigneurial rights. That year he enjoyed the honour of leading the race on le quatorze juillet, when it also passed close to his home on a stage from Limoges to Saint-Flour.

Voeckler has a pleasingly aggressive attitude to conserving the overall leadership. After Marco Marcato, the last survivor of a long six-man break, had been caught with 16km of yesterday's stage to go, the Frenchman was among those mounting a series of solo attacks, along with Philippe Gilbert and David Millar, before the sprinters had the final say.

Another nearby hamlet was the birthplace of Antonin Magne, the winner not just of the Tour in 1931 and 1934 but of the first time trial to be included in the race. Magne later became the respected sporting director of the post-war Mercier team, whose stars included Louison Bobet and Raymond Poulidor. His name is commemorated in an annual sportive taking place in the locality on Thursday, when Voeckler will be hoping, after Wednesday' flattish 167km stage from Blaye-les-Mines to Lavaur, to celebrate Bastille Day in yellow once again.