Hushovd reclaims green jersey

Thor Hushovd reclaimed the Tour de France points classification leader's green jersey on the 12th stage on Friday.

Hushovd (Cervelo Test Team) joined Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-Farnese) on 161 points by finishing second at the first intermediate sprint but won the second to take a six-point lead in the race for the maillot vert.

Norwegian Hushovd - winner of the 2009 green jersey by 10 points from Mark Cavendish - has 167 points and holds a 35-point lead over Cavendish (HTC-Columbia).

Hushovd was in the day's 18-man break with 50km of racing remaining, including the category two climb to the finish at the Mende-Brenoux aerodrome.