There was the usual breakaway on the 192km stage from Vatan to Saint Fargeau but hard work from Cavendish's Team Colombia HTC and Team Milram chased them down.
As the leaders were brought back to the peleton with five kilometres to go, George Hincapie lead out Mark Cavendish to take his second stage win in two days and his fourth of this Tour.
Tyler Farrar was second.
After the race, Cavendish told the Team Colombia HTC Press Officer:"There's nothing better than a win. You can talk and plan at the dinner table but success is the biggest motivation. "We all know that if we do our job 100-percent right it'll come out right. It's a cliche but in our team it really is 'all for one and one for all.'"
"There was a bit of an uphill at the finish but it wasn't very long. I went for the line with 150 metres to go, not 200 metres to go, and I knew some guys would try to come back at me on the final but that was the only real difference it made.
"It's amazing to have guys like Tony Martin working for you, when you think he's leading the Best Young Rider's competition and has a top-ten place overall. That shows just how dedicated and professional they are and I can't thank them enough."
Back in green as the leader of the points classification, Cavendish said "it would be nice to hold onto this all the way through, but it doesn't change my gameplan. "My big aim is still to reach Paris and win on the Champs Elysées."