Mark Cavendish left his tears behind and was all smiles as he powered to his second sprint victory in succession in the longest stage of the Tour de France in Gueugnon on Friday.
The Briton, in tears in Montargis after his first stage victory on this Tour, made the best of the Team Columbia train to win ahead of Tyler Farrar of the US and Italy’s Alessandro Petacchi.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“I’m really happy, really happy,” a composed Cavendish said.
PHOTO: AFP
The result meant the Briton drew level with sprint legends such as Mario Cipollini, Erik Zabel and Australian Robbie McEwen with 12 Tour stage wins.
“Now it’s OK, I can talk today. Yesterday was so emotional,” added Cavendish, paying homage to his Columbia team who again delivered perfectly at the end of the 227.5km ride in scorching heat.
German Bert Grabsch led from the 2km mark, followed by team leader Michael Rodgers. Then Germany’s Tony Martin took over and passed the baton to Bernhard Eisel. It was then up to lead-out man Mark Renshaw to do his part, before Cavendish surged to seal a perfect team effort.
“They’re a bunch of special guys. It’s not just a team of eight, it’s a unit. I’m just part of the machine,” Cavendish said.
While Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara retained his yellow jersey ahead of the first mountain stage of the Tour, the “Manx missile,” sporting green sunglasses, started to talk of the points classification green jersey again.
“Green is my favorite color. I’ll go for it, but maybe it’s not within my reach anymore,” Cavendish said.
Norway’s Thor Hushovd, the green jersey holder, finished 10th and admitted he should beware of Cavendish and Petacchi in future sprints.
The Norwegian, involved in a bitter dispute with Cavendish in the last Tour, even made a surprising confession: “He is still the best sprinter in the world.”
The mass sprint was the logical conclusion to the longest day on the Tour, spent in the hottest temperatures, but there was a brief moment of excitement, 7km from the line, when Lance Armstrong’s Radio Shack teammates seized the reins of the peloton to try and take advantage of side-winds to split the bunch.
“We were hoping it would be open, but it wasn’t,” Armstrong said.
Sensing trouble was looming, the Astana teammates of Tour champion Alberto Contador reacted and for 2km the leading contenders for final victory were spotted in the front, a very unusual position in such a stage finish.
They will be on a more familiar terrain in the 165.5km seventh stage to the ski resort of Les Rousses, which comprises the first serious climbs on the Tour.
Meanwhile, Spain’s Carlos Barredo and Portugal’s Rui Alberto Costa were involved in a punch-up at the end of the stage and were fined by the organizers.
Barredo, who races for Quick Step, and Caisse d’Epargne rider Costa came to blows after the finish over a race incident.
Barredo ran toward Costa brandishing his front wheel and attacked him. After a flurry of punches the two were separated by officials.
They were both handed fines of 400 Swiss Francs (US$381) for “insults, threats and incorrect behaviour.”
“I was told by a race steward that one of my riders had been involved in a fight, but I don’t know the circumstances,” Caisse d’Epargne team director Yvon Ledanois said. “I suppose they were involved in a race incident and that with the sun, spirits heated up. I want to talk it over calmly with Rui in the hotel.”
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