Mark Cavendish Wins Stage 5

Cavendish finishes Stage 5

He may have missed on two days ago when a stage finished in a bunch sprint but Mark Cavendish was not going to let that distract him from his mission: winning stages. 

In Cap Fréhel he proved – yet again – that he is “the fastest man in the world” when he came from 10 places back in the final sprint to overtake the world champion, the Belgian champion, and all others who dared take him on in his domain. This was a flat stage and that’s when the Manxman shines. It might have been a complicated race to the finish line but he managed it perfectly and collected his 16th Tour de France stage win in style. 

This was how the stage ended but many will remember it as the day when many favorites fell. Contador, Gesink, Chavanel, Boonen, Leipheimer and Brajkovic all crashed… and while only the latter was forced to abandon, the effects of the incidents in the middle of the stage are bound to play a roll in how the rest of the race is ridden.

With overcast conditions but dry roads, the fifth stage of the 2011 Tour de France – a 164.5km journey from Carhaix to Cap Fréhel – began at 1.49pm. There were 197 riders at the sign on. The stage featured on categorized climb, the cote de Gurunhuel (cat-4 at 45.5km) and the intermediate sprint was in Goudelin (at 70km). 

The attacks began as soon as the flag was waved with Saur-Sojasun, Vacansoleil and Euskaltel riders the aggressors. It wasn’t until the fourth kilometre, however, that an escape gained a real advantage. The instigator of the move was Gutierrez (MOV) who was joined by Valentin (COF), Turgot (EUR) and the youngest in the race Delaplace (SAU). By 35km their lead was 5’00”. The average speed for the first hour was 43.2km/h. Delaplace surged ahead to take the only climbing point on offer today; Garmin led the peloton over the top 5’30” behind the four escapees.

Around the 60km mark, there was a crash that involved about 12 riders including Chavanel (QST), Wiggins (SKY), Ten Dam (RAB), and Leipheimer (RSH). Soon afterwards Liquigas riders assembled just behind Garmin at the front of the peloton. The pace dropped a little and the escapees advantage blew out to 6’00” – this was the maximum gain of the escape. 

Around the 63km mark, there was 1’00” between the peloton and Leipheimer’s group. Movistar and HTC led to the intermediate sprint and Boonen (QST) hit out by sprinting up the left of the road. By the time he reached the line, he was on the far right. Cavendish gestured with his right hand in frustration at what was a far from rudimentary sprint. Feillu (VCD) raced passed Boonen to claim fifth-place points; the Manxman was 13th in Goudelin, while a rival for the green jersey, Rojas (MOV) was ninth. 

Brajkovic (RSH) crashed along with Gesink (RAB) at 71km the Dutchman took some time to remount his bike but the Slovenian abandoned the Tour with head injuries and was taken away in an ambulance. At 72km, Contador (SBS) was caught in a fall. The peloton didn’t appear interested in easing off the pace to wait for any of the fallen riders. Leopard-Trek was at the front of the bunch not long after the spate of crashes but, as Contador, Gesink, other fallen riders and their team-mates returned, Garmin assumed position back at the front of the peloton that was 3’00” behind the four escapees. 

Soon afterwards Nicki Sorensen (SBS) was clipped by a passing moto and crashed on the right of the road. He too rejoined the peloton after an impressive chase on a replacement bike. Around the 90km mark, Kern (EUR) abandoned the Tour.

At 102km Boonen and Steegmans (QST) as well as Boom (RAB) were caught up in a crash. It took some time before the 2007 green jersey winner remounted his bike. The average speed for the second hour was 46.8km/h.

The crashes contributed to a sense of urgency for riders vying for a position near the head of the peloton. This, combined with a tailwind, contributed to a rapid pace for the third hour. The escapees were unable to hold on to any advantage and they were caught with 45km to go. With 33km to go, Roy (FDJ) attacked and was followed by Voeckler (EUR). There was no reaction from the peloton and with 25km to go, they were 40” ahead. 

The finale featured two distinct groups: one chasing the stage win, the other trying to keep their GC contenders safe. BMC, Astana, Saxo Bank-SunGard and Liquigas spent most of the time at the front of the peloton until the HTC Express arrived with about 10km to go. Still, the two Frenchmen insisted with their efforts, not surrendering until they absolutely had to. Roy retreated into the peloton with 3km to go, Voeckler lasted another kilometer but then the sprinters began to work their magic. 

Martin led Goss under the ‘Flamme Rouge’ and the German TT specialist opened up a significant gap. Boasson Hagen responded, chased him down and then tried to catch the pure sprinters off guard and surged into the lead with about 800m to go but he was caught by Feillu who also started his sprint too soon… only to fail to maintain his speed. 

Hushovd then found himself in the lead but not for long as Gilbert came around him in the final 300 metres. At this stage Cavendish was behind and in about 10th place but he turned on the turbo and put himself where he wanted to be: in the lead in the final 25 meters. He claimed his 16th stage win since in the Tour de France.

Hushovd finished 10th and Evans 11th ; the Norwegian will wear the yellow jersey in stage six.