Despite the British team having control of the peloton throughout the race, they struggled to close the gap on the lead group and Cavendish was nowhere in sight as Vinokourov out sprinted Uran to the finish line in front of Buckingham Palace.

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In the end, the sprint was a formality for Cavendish but, with the breakaway group finishing 41 seconds ahead of the peloton, Armstrong proved the big winner, gaining time on all his rivals including Astana team-mate and 2007 Tour winner Alberto Contador, defending champion Carlos Sastre and Giro d'Italia winner Denis Menchov.

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Since the restructuring of the business, its majority shareholders have been Allied Irish Banks and Lloyds Banking Group, who had hired advisers Cavendish Corporate Finance to carry out a "full exit review" of the business.

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