Robbie McEwen retained the Tour de France green jersey on Monday, doing his bit to help Australian dominance in the early part of the race.

Robbie McEwen retained the green jersey

He was sixth in the sprint behind compatriot Baden Cooke but held on to the lead in the points standings.

McEwen has 58 points, one ahead of Cooke with Erik Zabel of Germany in third on 50 points.

"I was only sixth in the sprint but fortunately it was enough to keep me in green," the Brisbane-born rider said.

"Having the green jersey is a bit of a consolation and it's nice to be part of the Australian dominance of the Tour."

Fellow Australian Bradley McGee holds the overall leader's yellow jersey, which he has worn since winning the prologue on Saturday.

McEwen, who won two stages and the green jersey in the 2002 Tour was keen to emulate the performance of his two countrymen in this year's event.

"The sprint was strange. It was really fast with a kilometre to go but then everybody eased up 500 metres out. I didn't quite get the run through I needed to be up there," the 31-year-old said.

"The other riders burst through on the left and led out the sprint but that meant I was in no-man's land and I had to try and salvage what I could.

"Hopefully tomorrow will go even better and I can win the stage," the Lotto rider added. 

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