YORK rider Charlie Wegelius has been forced to pull out of the Tour de France due to illness.

Wegelius, 32, did not start stage 11 yesterday with the illness preventing the Omega Pharma-Lotto climber from eating.

“He’s not been well,” said Omega Pharma-Lotto sports director Roberto Damiani.

“We decided the best thing was to give him a break.”

Wegelius, who completed the Tour in 2007 and 2009, is the only British rider to quit the 2010 race.

Team Garmin-Transitions’ Robbie Hunter, who has a fractured left elbow, was the second non-starter as the Tour travelled the 184.5-kilometres from Sisteron to Bourg-les-Valence yesterday.

The duo’s withdrawal mean the peloton has been reduced by 19 since Rotterdam and there are currently 179 riders in the race, which finishes in Paris on Sunday, July 25.

Mark Cavendish showed once again that he is unbeatable in a bunch sprint with his 13th career stage victory in Bourg-les-Valence.

The 25-year-old HTC-Columbia sprinter, who won stages five and six of the 97th Tour, triumphed ahead of Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-Farnese) and Tyler Farrar (Team Garmin-Transitions).

But his third victory of the 2010 Tour, which enabled him to surpass mentor Erik Zabel in career stage wins, may still not be enough for the Briton to claim the points classification’s green jersey.

The stage was always going to be one for the sprinters after a return to flat terrain following an excursion to the Alps.

Two Alpine stages ensured the battle for the race leader’s yellow jersey became a duel between incumbent Andy Schleck (Team Saxo Bank) and Alberto Contador (Astana), with the Luxembourg rider holding a 41-second advantage with nine days of racing remaining.