CAVENDISH COLLECTS TOUR VICTORY NUMBER 13

At the start of the 11th stage, it was almost unanimous: a sprint finish loomed. That’s was the forecast and that’s what transpired. Yes, there was an attack. Yes, it went early. No, it never gained enough time to even look like succeeding. And yes, HTC-Columbia controlled the sprint with panache – and a few headbutts – before Mark Cavendish bolted into the lead and onward to his third win in this year’s Tour, and the 13th of his career. It was a rudimentary sprint stage even if Mark Renshaw decided he needed to account for the fast finish of Garmin-Transition’s Julian Dean by using his head rather than legs. Nothing can be taken away from ‘Cav’, however, as he again demonstrated that he’s the king of sprinting in modern cycling.

The Progress Report
The 184.5km stage from Sisteron to Bourg-les-Valence began at 12.55pm with 179 riders at the start. The overnight retirees were Charlie Wegelius (OLO) and Robbie Hunter (GRM). On the menu for this ‘flat’ stage were two intermediate sprints – the first in Montlaur-en-Diois (at 83.5km), the second in Mirabel-et-Blacons (130km). There is just one climb, the category-three col de Cabre (at 56.5km).

First Attack Sticks…
As soon as the flag fell to signal the start of racing, Stephane Auge (COF) shot out of the peloton and onward to establish The Escape of the stage, he was joined in the lead by Jose Benitez (FOT) and compatriot Anthony Geslin (FDJ). By 2km they already had a lead of 1’40”. The average speed for the first hour was 37.1km/h. The maximum gain in the first two hours was 5’05” (at 47km). HTC-Columbia and Lampre shared the pace setting duties at the head of the peloton. Benitez led Auge and Geslin over the top of the col de Cabre… while, behind, Cunego (LAM), Barredo (QST), Pineau (QST) and Charteau (BTL) attacked the peloton in the hunt for the one point for fourth at the top. Pineau won the sprint 1’47” behind the escapees. The peloton was 2’00” behind at the 56.5km mark.

Accepting A Bunch Finish…
The average speed for the second hour was just 34.3km/h and Garmin’s Zabriskie joined HTC’s Grabsch and a few Lampre riders at the head of the peloton. They didn’t exactly “chase” though, rather they just tried not to run into the back of the escapees who lingered just ahead of the pack. The average speed for the third hour was 39.5km/h and the bunch hovered around 2’00” behind the three who tapped along at the front of the race knowing they were going to be swallowed up before the finish. 
At the 41km mark, Perget (GCE) put in a brief attack that was quickly marked but it reduced the advantage to just 40”.

Setting Up The Sprint
At 29km to go, Benitez launched the first attack of the escape. Auge and Geslin responded quickly the, two kilometers later, Geslin put in one tiny surge before sitting up and waiting for the peloton. The bunch was just 18” behind. The escape was over at 22.5km to go. RadioShack led briefly, the was a two-man FDJ attack – from Roux and Roy – with 21km to go… and then the Saxo Bank squad moved to the front of the bunch which was traveling at 60km/h at the 20km to go sign. 
The speed of Saxo Bank prompted several riders to drop from the peloton but not even the power of Cancellara could stop Chavanel from trying his luck – he attacked 8km from the line and was marked by Popovych. The HTC train caught him 7km from the line and then Lampre and Cervelo took control of the peloton. 
A Lampre rider led three HTC-Columbia riders under the ‘flamme rouge’ but Cavendish’s boys were in command. When Renshaw hit his turbo button, he found himself to the left of Dean (GRM) who was leading out Farrar. The Australian headbutted his the ‘Kiwi’ three times and, as he did so, Petacchi opened up the sprint with 350m to go. But Cavendish never faltered: once he saw the Italian dart ahead, the leader of the HTC team sped into the lead to claim his third victory in the 2010 Tour and his 13th from four starts. 
Andy Schleck finished 66th in the stage, with the same time as the winner. There is no change to the top order of the general classification and the Luxembourger will wear the yellow jersey in stage 12.