By Julien Pretot

PARIS (Reuters) - Mark Cavendish defeated fierce rival Andre Greipel to win the 11th stage of the Tour de France Wednesday and snatch the green jersey in the process.

Briton Cavendish was set up perfectly by his team mate Mark Renshaw in the final stretch, prevailing one day after losing to Greipel to claim his 18th victory on the Tour after a 167.5-km effort from Blaye les Mines.

American Tyler Farrar was third as Thomas Voeckler of France, who spent a quiet day in the peloton, retained the overall leader's yellow jersey.

A six-man breakaway built a 4:30 gap and kept the peloton at bay until four kms from the finish.

Dutchman Lars Boom tried his luck just before the other fugitives were reeled in but he had to surrender two kms from the line.

The sprinters' teams took the matter in their own hands and once again, it was the HTC-Highroad train that took control in the last kilometer.

Cavendish survived a failing buckle on his shoe to win again and the Manxman took the lead in the points classification standings with 251 points. Spain's Jose Joaquin Rojas has 235 points.

(Editing by John Mehaffey)

(The following story was corrected to delete incorrect refererence to Boon voted most aggressive rider 5th para)