Mark Cavendish won his 30th Tour de France stage in a nail-biting speed finish. The 31-year-old Briton took the 14th stage from Montelimar to Parc des Oiseaux with a commanding performance for his fourth stage victory at this Tour alone. Gradually, the Manx Missile is cruising up on Belgian legend Eddy Merckx and the all-time record of 34 wins.
But for a man who was written off in many quarters after seeing German rival Marcel Kittel eclipse him, Cavendish proved to everyone for being the greatest sprinter of all time. The long, straight finish at the bird sanctuary at Villars-les-Dombes seemed tailor-born for the best, powerful Kittel, a winner of four stages at both, 2013 and 2014 Tour. Yet Cavendish pushed himself from behind Kittel's wheel and streaked past him to take a clear win.
He swerved a touch at the end and Kittel sat up shaking his fist in frustration, but in truth he had been well beaten. The German took fifth with Norway's Alexander Kristoff in second and Peter Sagan of Slovakia third. Briton Chris Froome maintained the race leader's yellow jersey after finishing safely in the pack ahead of Sunday's mountainous stage. Dutchman Bauke Mollema remains second at 1min 47sec with another Brit, Adam Yates, third at 2:45.
Man to beat
Many people believed Cavendish's best years were behind him after he won just three Tour stages over the previous three years, having tasted victory 23 times in the five years prior to that. Kittel and fellow German Andre Greipel had been the dominant sprinters at the Tour from 2012 to last year, Griepel winning four stages last year and three in 2012. But Cavendish showed once again that even after being written off, he still remains the man to beat.
A four-man breakaway got going 30km into the stage but the riders themselves rode like they knew their efforts would be doomed to failure. In one sense, it was merely an exercise in trying to put Friday's mournful atmosphere behind them following the Nice terror attack that killed at least 84 people. FDJ sports director Thierry Bricaud credited his rider Jeremy Roy with kicking the stage into gear by going on the attack. "The peloton was lethargic at the beginning because of the tragedy in Nice and the head wind but Jeremy decided the race had to go on," said Bricaud.
The four had a lead of 4min 30sec at one point but the peloton kept them on a tight leash. But once the gap dropped to under a minute, the peloton eased up a touch, mindful of not catching the escapees too soon and encouraging a counter-attack out of the bunch. American Alex Howes was first to drop from the front four, followed by Cesare Benedetti of Italy. Frenchman Roy and Martin Elmiger of Switzerland held on until 3.5km to go, sharing a handshake when the game was up.
(With Inputs from Agencies)
Comments
SHARE