Mark Cavendish has dedicated his fourth stage triumph to disqualified Australian team-mate Mark Renshaw.
Cavendish will bid for the green jersey as a thrilling Tour de France comes to a conclusion this weekend.
The HTC-Columbia sprinter, who won the 198-kilometre 18th stage from Salies-de-Bearn to Bordeaux, heaped praise on lead-out rider Renshaw - the rider ousted for head butting.
"It's more difficult sprinting without Mark as he makes my job really easy," Cavendish said.
"He takes me to 200m in first place and I just have finish off the job. But I'm lucky that we've got other guys who were able to set me up in the last kilometre."
"But I've missed Mark in other ways, too."
"I've missed having someone around suffering more than me in the Pyrenees. I've missed having someone in my room who I can have a laugh with about how hard this race is."
"So this win is for him."
Cavendish will aim to win on the Champs Elysees in Paris and hope his rivals for the points classification's maillot vert falter.
"I'll try and win on the Champs Elysees and that's all I can do," said Cavendish, who celebrated the 14th Tour stage win of his career."
"I'll never say never when it comes to the green jersey but I lost it in the first week. It hasn't really been my aim."
"I like to win bike races. I've always said, 'if I win the green jersey by winning races, that'll do'."
"We'll try and win again in Paris and see what happens."
Cavendish has 197 points, Thor Hushovd (Cervelo Test Team) 203, while Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-Farnese) is currently in possession of the maillot vert with 213.
If Cavendish claims the 35 points awarded to the winner of tomorrow's stage, Hushovd finishes no higher than third and Petacchi eighth or lower, the green jersey would be the Briton's.
If Cavendish wins, Hushovd finishes no higher than third and Petacchi finishes seventh, the Briton would claim the maillot vert courtesy of a superior number of stage wins.
Prior to the battle of the sprinters, the duel for the race leader's yellow jersey is set to come to a conclusion on the 52km time-trial from Bordeaux to Pauillac.
After 19 days of racing from the prologue in Rotterdam through the Alps and Pyrenees, Alberto Contador (Astana) holds an eight-second lead over Andy Schleck (Team Saxo Bank).
Contador is the superior rider against the clock - the Spaniard finished 116 places and 42 seconds ahead of Schleck on the 8.9km prologue on July 3 - but is taking nothing for granted.
"Our position is more or less the same now and it will be incredibly difficult," said Contador, who is seeking a third Tour title in four years."