Kittel outpaces Cavendish for third stage win updated 11:48 a.m. ET July 11, 2013 Marcel Kittel secured his third stage victory of the 2013 Tour de France Thursday, after winning Stage 12 by a half-wheel length over Mark Cavendish. Kittel finished with a time of 4:49:49. Chris Froome (SKY) retained the yellow jersey and finished 14th in the 218 km trek between Fougeres, France, and Tours. This was the first time since 2005 that a TDF stage finished in Tours. Juan Antonio Flecha won the "Fighting Spirit" award and will get a red race number for Stage 13. When asked about what it means to win his third stage of this Tour de France, Kittel said, "It is absolutely crazy, I feel really good at the moment and the team is great. This win, especially today, means a lot to me [because] it is the third win in the tour. He did not take all of the credit for the win, however, and in fact gave that honor to his Argo teammates. "I would like to dedicate this win to my whole team, especially Tom Veelers," he said. He had to fight today just to finish the race; he still had pains from the wounds and he's a great guy. I really love my team. The pain from the wounds that Veelers is dealing with is a result of the controversial Stage 10 wreck with Mark Cavendish. Cavendish was cleared of responsibility for the incident by Tour organizers, but the impression remains that Cavendish intentionally knocked Veelers off of his bike. One spectator took it so far as to throw urine at Cavendish while he was competing in Stage 11 on Wednesday. Cavendish's misfortunes from the fallout of the wreck continued Thursday as he was notified that organizers at the Boxmeer Criterium have banned him from participating in the traditional post-Tour race on July 22 in Holland. Twan Poels, a former rider and a member of the Boxmeer organizing committee, said of the Cavendish ban that, "Simply put we find his actions not very good. The jury may not think he is responsible for the fall of Tom Veelers - we absolutely believe otherwise. We may be looking for a sprinter, but Cavendish is not that. I have seen the TV images of the sprint together with the board and I decided to take him off the list. The Tour de France continues Friday with Stage 13 covering the 173 km between Tours and Saint-Amand-Montrond.