CYCLING/TOUR DE FRANCE:IT'S ALMOST certainly too late to win the green jersey, but Mark Cavendish again underlined he's the quickest sprinter in the Tour peloton yesterday when he cannoned to his fourth stage win of this year's race. The British rider blazed into the wine capital of Bordeaux well clear of Julian Dean (Garmin Transitions) and Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-Farnese Vini), with the latter retaking the lead in the points classification.
Previous green-jersey wearer Thor Hushovd was set up perfectly by his leadout men but didn’t have the power to fight for the stage, fading to 14th place.
Overall leader Alberto Contador (Astana), closest rival Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) and all of the other highly-placed riders finished in the main bunch at the end of a flat day’s racing. Contador and Schleck remain separated by eight seconds, although this gap is expected to grow in tomorrow’s time trial.
Irish pro Nicolas Roche didn’t contest the sprint but still rolled in a solid 18th. He remains 15th overall, and will aim to hold on to that position in the 52-kilometre time trial to Pauillac.
Cavendish grabbed what is the 14th stage of his career at the end of 198kms in the saddle, benefiting after an early breakaway by Daniel Oss (Liquigas), Jerome Pineau (Quick Step), Benoit Vaugrenard (Française des Jeux) and Matti Breschel (Saxo Bank) was brought back close to the finish.
“I wasn’t sure if I was going to even start the stage. I’ve been sick the last four days with bronchitis,” he revealed. “I had a fever yesterday and I was dead last night. I never thought I could start today.”
He is now 16 points off Petacchi’s total, with the sprint into Paris on Sunday set to decide the final winner of that classification.
The yellow jersey competition will be determined one day earlier, as the outcome of tomorrow’s time trial will set the final podium. Contador won the equivalent test last year, although the Annecy time trial was hillier than tomorrow’s route. Nevertheless, he has always been stronger than Schleck at the discipline and it would be a massive surprise if the Luxembourg rider managed to come out on top.
Still, the latter is determined to give it a go. “I hope my legs will be okay. I know tomorrow is going to be the most important day of my cycling life. I’m ready to fight,” he vowed.
Contador said he wasn’t sure of the outcome, saying anybody could have a bad day, but he does have a history of playing down his chances. What was more revealing was his final declaration that he didn’t just want to seal his hold on the jersey, but was aiming higher than that in the time trial.
“I hope to win the stage,” he said, mindful that he has yet to do so in this year’s race.
Roche will dig equally deep today to hold on to 15th place overall, his goal before the race, and he has a one minute 57 second lead over Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) going into the test. Vinokourov won a time trial in the 2007 race but was disqualified for blood doping. Providing he is behaving himself this time round, his Irish rival has a decent chance of holding him off. However, Roche will have to ride well in what is an inconsistent discipline for him.
