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.

Gilbert Wins Opening Tour Stage

Gilbert takes Yellow Jersey

Philippe Gilbert was touted as the absolute favourite for the opening stage of the 2011 Tour de France and he promptly scored the victory many expected him to get. Not only did he escape numerous crashes, he also had the power to hold off a late charge from his former team-mate and a two-time runner-up in the Tour, Cadel Evans.

This is a day that will be remembered for two things: Gilbert’s domination and the decimation caused by crashes. There were several small incidents on the road from the Passage du Gois to Mont des Alouettes but it was a massive pile-up with nine kilometers to go that decimated the peloton and allowed only 27 riders to sneak through in an attempt to take on the recently crowned Belgian champion. 

After the ‘flamme rouge’ Alexandre Vinokourov surged but his attack didn’t last long before Fabian Cancellara put in his bid for glory on day one (once again)... but not even ’Spartacus’ could do anything to hold off a phenomenal performance by Gilbert. The Omega Pharma-Lotto rider bolted into the lead in the final 500 meters and onward to a sensational victory that earned him the yellow, green and polka-dot jerseys.

The opening stage of the 98th Tour de France began at 12.20pm with a 13.5km neutral zone before arriving at the start of the Passage du Gois where an official opening ceremony took place. The official start was at 12.58pm.

There were 198 riders from 22 teams at the sign on this morning. The 191.5km stage from Passage du Gois to Mont des Alouettes had one intermediate sprint – at Avrillé at the 87km mark – and only one categorized climb, the one to the finish just above the town of Les Herbiers. The conditions were fine and warm for the start with a temperature of around 25 degrees Celsius.

The moment that Christian Prudhomme waved the flag to signal the start of the stage there was a strong attack by several Europcar riders. The peloton allowed a trio to quickly gain an advantage. The successful escapees were Jérémy Roy (FDJ), Perrig Quemeneur (EUR) and Lieuwe Westra (VCD). They built a maximum gain of 6’30” at the 12km mark before riders from Garmin-Cervélo, HTC, Astana and Omega Pharma-Lotto lifted the pace of the peloton. The average speed for the first hour was 42.3km/h. The advantage was held steady at around five minutes for the next hour.

At the 63km mark, Vanendert (OLO) crashed near the head of the peloton and caused a few others to fall. Riders caught up included Arroyo (MOV) and several others but all involved quickly remounted and rejoined the peloton. The average speed for the second hour was 40.1km/h.

With 5km to go before the Avrille sprint, Lampre sent its troops to the front of the peloton that was 4’05” behind the escapees. There was a concerted lead-out by HTC, Omega Pharma and Lampre but it was Farrar who scampered ahead to take fourth place points 2’35” behind Roy’s trio. Five kilometers later, there was a discussion at the front of the peloton between Gilbert (OLO), Tosatto (SBS) and Hushovd (GRM)… in a matter of moments the advantage of the leaders was back up to 4’30”. 

With about 65km to go, Garmin-Cervélo joined Omega Pharma-Lotto riders at the front to control the pace setting duties while the leaders enjoyed an advantage of 5’15”. The average speed for the third hour was 38.5km/h. 

Gerdemann (LEO) was involved in a crash with about 55km to go; it was caused by a Europcar rider. All involved remounted their bikes and rejoined the peloton. 

The escape was caught 18km from the finish.

Gilbert’s team-mates were on the front of the bunch at the time of capture but were replaced by riders from Europcar, Leopard-Trek and RadioShack. Omega Pharma-Lotto never dropped far behind but they gave the responsibility of the pacesetting to other formations. He may have been the absolute favorite but he never looked like he would be beaten… not only did he win the stage but he gained considerable time on riders who might otherwise have been in the mix had it not been for a crash with 9km to go. That wasn’t the end of the accidents either as there was another significant pile-up with 3km to go.

There was a touch of wheels in the middle of the peloton with 9km to go and it caused a ricochet to surge through the bunch and take out all but 27 riders. Many favorites were caught up and no matter what they did they could not close the gap. Alberto Contador, Andy Schleck, Ivan Basso and other big favorites for the overall title tried to limit his losses but he is one of many to finish 1’21” behind the stage winner… 

Philippe Gilbert took his first Tour stage win, three years after finishing second in the opening stage. 

He will wear the yellow jersey in stage two but he also leads the points and climbing classifications.

Classification General

Contador Free to Defend Tour Title

Spain's Alberto Contador is free to defend his Tour de France title after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said his doping case would be heard after the race.

The 28-year-old is waiting to hear if the CAS will reverse a verdict by the Spanish Cycling Federation that cleared him of any offence in last year's Tour.

Contador tested positive for taking clenbuterol during a rest day.

The hearing was postponed last week and will now be heard from August 1st -3rd.

This year's Tour de France is from 2-24 July but if Contador wins his fourth Tour title, there could be a cloud over his latest achievement.

Contador faces a possible two-year ban and being stripped of his 2010 Tour de France title if the Lausanne-based court finds against him.

His case reached Cas after the International Cycling Union (UCI) and World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) appealed against the initial verdict.

Contador tested positive for the banned drug clenbuterol - he had minute traces of it in his urine samples - days before his third Tour de France win, in July 2010.

But he claims the traces came from contaminated meat.

Clenbuterol, similar to the asthma drug salbutamol, is used to treat breathing disorders as a decongestant and bronchodilator. It causes an increase in aerobic capacity, blood pressure and oxygen transportation, and speeds the rate at which fats are burned.

Wada adopts a zero-tolerance policy towards the drug, though its rules allow athletes to escape a sanction if they prove "no fault or negligence" on their part.

Last September the UCI announced that Contador was provisionally suspended and asked the Spanish federation to investigate.

The federation's disciplinary committee originally proposed a one-year ban for Contador in January 2011, but his legal team then offered new evidence and he was cleared to race three weeks later.

Days before the decision, Spain's Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, had said there was "no legal reason to justify sanctioning Contador".

The case does not appear to be distracting Contador, who won his second Giro d'Italia title last weekend.