British sprinting star Mark Cavendish of HTC-Highroad won his first stage of the 2011 Tour de France Wednesday afternoon, outsprinting Thor Hushovd, Philippe Gilbert, and José Rojas to capture the crash-filled 164.5 km (102.2 miles) stage.
Cavendish has now won 16 Tour stages in four years, and could well win another few this year. At that pace, he could surpass the record of 34 set by Eddie Merckx before Cavendish hits 30.
“It was a difficult finish and there were a lot of other guys up there for the finale—Geraint Thomas in the white, Brad Wiggins, Thor Hushovd, Rojas, Gilbert,” Cavendish told letour.com. “It was a difficult sprint from only a small group. It was hard to stay at the front. I had to go 100 percent to win that one!”
Cavendish had to fight to the front without the benefit of his leadout train of Tony Martin and Matt Goss, which broke up coming into the final kilometer. Edvald Boasson-Hagen attacked 880 meters (962 yards) out, but got caught.
Thor Hushovd led into the final 250 meters (273 yards), but the big man was burned out from riding to defend the yellow jersey the day before.
Philippe Gilbert launched next, with José Rojas on his wheel. Rojas broke right while Gilbert moved left to cut off Hushovd. Cavendish came streaking up the far right from 10 riders back in the final 50 meters (54 yards) to beat them all to the line.
Stage Five was marked as a sprinters’ stage, but it didn’t have a sprinter-friendly finish. Instead there was a steep climb three kilometers (1.8 miles) out, and the final kilometer was slightly uphill—exactly the kind of terrain that catches a sprinter out and makes him burn up his energy just short of the line. Cavendish found an extra reserve to beat his rivals.
“It was uphill coming up to three kilometers to go—that was hard!” he said. “That was a climb and I was on the edge of my saddle and then it went down, but the uphill in the final kilometers really hurt. I’ve won harder before but I’ve also been dropped on easier … so at least it’s a sign that my form is good.”
Next: Crosswinds and Crashes
Crosswinds and Crashes
The stage, 164.5 km from Carhaix to Cap Fréhel, wound over narrow roads in an area of the country noted for harsh winds, with a final unprotected stretch right along the coast.
Everyone was worried that the shifting winds would split the peloton; when the front of the peloton turns a corner and gets the wind from a new direction, the riders up front can attack, while the riders further back have to fight the wind. This kind of acceleration spilt the peloton in Stage Three in 2009 Tour.
With everyone nervous and crowding to the front of the peloton, crashes were inevitable, and the stage saw about a dozen.
“It was the wind,” Thor Hushovd told Versus. “Everybody was nervous it was going to split up, everybody wants to stay at the front, and on and narrow roads, heavy crashes happen.”
Cadel Evans told a similar story. “I kept hearing on the radio over and over again, ‘Crash, crash, crash.’
“Having small, narrow roads and more nervous racing, it’s more exciting to watch—I think it augments the risk in the race. Maybe today because of that it was a really nervous day, narrow, windy roads and lots of wind.”
At 90 km, RadioShack’s Janez Brajkovic and Rabobank’s Robert Gesink went down. Brajkovic sustained a concussion, and Gesink could be seen holding his wrist. Ironically, Gesink crashed out of the 2010 Tour de France with a broken in wrist, sustained in Stage Five. This year he was able to continue.
Alberto Contador went down, but got right back up. Shortly after, teammate Nicki Sorenson collided with a photographer’s motorcycle fell.
A few kilometers further on Tom Boonen and teammate Gert Stteegmans collided. Boonen hit the hardest, hurting his head and shoulder along with other less serious injuries. He had to be led home by teammate Addy Engels and barely beat the time limit.
Finally, Esukaltel’s Ivan Velasco crashed late in the stage, breaking his collarbone. He retired overnight.
Almost the entire RadioShack team hit the deck. Besides Brajkovich and Levi Leipheimer, Chris Horner crashed, and Yaroslav Popovych ironically collided with an ambulance and injured his wrist.
