Cavendish celebrates crossing finish line

Cavendish, of Team High Road, crossed the finish line first despite a crash in the final lap, but was penalised for sheltering behind a vehicle.

Brazil's Luciano Pagliarini was awarded the victory. Levi Leipheimer leads overall, with Brit David Millar second.

"I'm happy but it's not like a win with the hands up. I came in second, but I am the first," said Pagliarini.

Cavendish was spotted breaking race rules as he recovered from a pile-up involving Italian great Mario Cipollini and American Fred Rodriguez.

Race director Jim Birrell said: "Officials saw Mark hang on to a car for an extended period of time.

"It's unfortunate because he put in such a good effort today, but those are the rules."

Cavendish was relegated to 74th on stage six, 20 seconds behind the main pack.

Millar, riding for his new team Slipstream Chipotle, is 49 seconds behind Leipheimer in the general classification going into the final stage into Pasadena.