Cautious Mark Cavendish makes his point

Mark Cavendish is not getting carried way despite taking a huge step towards his dream of winning the Tour de France's green jersey with just six days of racing remaining.

The Isle of Man rider was first over the line in yesterday's 120mile 15th stage from Limoux to Montpellier, his fourth victory of this Tour and his 19th in four years.

The result cemented Cavendish's lead in the race for the green jersey and he is now 37 points ahead of his nearest challenger, Spain's Jose Joaquin Rojas, and 71 in front of third place Philippe Gilbert, of Belgium.

However, with Rojas, of Movistar, and Gilbert, of Omega Pharma-Lotto, both likely to accrue more points than Cavendish in the Alps, the HTC-Highroad rider is taking nothing for granted.

"The battle's not over until we cross the line on the Champs-Elysees so me and the team will keep plugging away," said Cavendish, who finished second in the green jersey battle in 2009 and again last year.

"I know Gilbert is quite far back but he desperately wants this jersey. He's an incredibly talented rider. He'll find a way to get points. Rojas can climb a lot better than me - there's some intermediate sprints that he can get points in that I can't."