Cavendish shines, Gerrans leads
Source: Agencies |
July 4, 2013, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
BRITISH sprinter Mark Cavendish finally hit form to win the fifth stage of the Tour de France in a sprint finish yesterday and Australian veteran Simon Gerrans kept the yellow jersey.
Cavendish made a poor start to the Tour but this 24th career Tour stage win will boost his confidence and launch his bid to win the sprinters' green jersey.
With a few hundred meters to go, Cavendish sat on Omega-Pharma teammate Gert Steegmans' wheel and got into a perfect position to attack and held off a challenge from Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky). Slovak Peter Sagan (Cannondale), who leads the green jersey contest, was third.
Cavendish needs one more stage win to tie Andre Leducq for third on the Tour's all-time list of stage winners, and he could do that today as stage six again favors sprinters.
If he manages that, he could eye Bernard Hinault's 28 wins, the second-highest total after Eddie Merckx's record of 34.
While Cavendish was raising his arms in triumph, behind him there was more chaos as about a dozen riders hit the tarmac in a crash.
The 228.5-kilometer route featured some small climbs but was otherwise flat, starting out from the touristy beach resort of Cagnes-sur-Mer and finishing in the southern sea port of Marseille. It was a quiet afternoon with the pack rolling along at a slow pace until a crash toward the end brought down 15-20 riders.
Gerrans held off Sagan to win Monday's third stage in a sprint finish and helped his Orica GreenEdge team to narrowly win Tuesday's time trial and take the leader's jersey from Belgian Jan Bakelants.
Cavendish made a poor start to the Tour but this 24th career Tour stage win will boost his confidence and launch his bid to win the sprinters' green jersey.
With a few hundred meters to go, Cavendish sat on Omega-Pharma teammate Gert Steegmans' wheel and got into a perfect position to attack and held off a challenge from Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky). Slovak Peter Sagan (Cannondale), who leads the green jersey contest, was third.
Cavendish needs one more stage win to tie Andre Leducq for third on the Tour's all-time list of stage winners, and he could do that today as stage six again favors sprinters.
If he manages that, he could eye Bernard Hinault's 28 wins, the second-highest total after Eddie Merckx's record of 34.
While Cavendish was raising his arms in triumph, behind him there was more chaos as about a dozen riders hit the tarmac in a crash.
The 228.5-kilometer route featured some small climbs but was otherwise flat, starting out from the touristy beach resort of Cagnes-sur-Mer and finishing in the southern sea port of Marseille. It was a quiet afternoon with the pack rolling along at a slow pace until a crash toward the end brought down 15-20 riders.
Gerrans held off Sagan to win Monday's third stage in a sprint finish and helped his Orica GreenEdge team to narrowly win Tuesday's time trial and take the leader's jersey from Belgian Jan Bakelants.
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