Mark Cavendish of Team High Road thought he had the win today, but officials apparently spotted him hanging on to a team car and was given a 20 second penalty. Because of the penalty, Luciano André Pagliarini Mendonca (Saunier Duval-Scott) took the stage win, with Juan Jose Haedo (Team CSC) in second and World Champion Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) in third.

Levi Leipheimer (Astana) held on to the yellow jersey for one more day and hopes to hang on in tomorrow’s final stage from Santa Clarita to Pasadena for an overall win.