Cavendish laments diminished chances for sprinters at Tour (The Associated Press)

SAINT-LO, France (AP) — Not too long ago, a successful Tour de France for Mark Cavendish meant coming away with a handful of victories. ”The sprint opportunities are less,” Cavendish said on Thursday, lamenting how Tour organizers have created more challenging routes in recent years with more hilly stages in the opening week, as opposed to the purely flat opening stages that the race once started with. ”In 2008, it was 18 Cat (category) 2, Cat 1 and HC (Hors Categorie, beyond category) climbs in the whole Tour de France.