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Jul 04, 2013 Sports
Mark Cavendish claimed his first win of this year’s Tour de France, and the 24th of his career, winning a mass bunch sprint in Marseille after the 228.5km fifth stage from Cagnes-sur-Mer.
The Manxman triumphed in a bunch sprint finish ahead of Team Sky’s Edvald Boasson Hagen, with Cannondale’s Peter Sagan beating Andre Greipel of Lotto-Belisol to third.
A major crash 200 metres from the finish stopped much of the peloton in its tracks, but Cavendish was already flying over the line.
Cavendish’s team, Omega Pharma-Quick-step, provided him with the perfect lead-out, with Tony Martin, who lost much of the skin from his back when he crashed on Saturday, putting in huge efforts as the peloton swept up the remnants of a six-man breakaway that at one point had a lead of 12 minutes.
That was slowly eaten into as the sprinters’ teams, and the Orica-GreenEdge of overall leader Simon Gerrans, began to chase. The test for Cavendish was the Col de la Gineste, a category four climb 30km from the finish.
Some of the rival sprinters’ teams upped the pace on the approach to the climb, in a bid to drop Cavendish. But he held on, and it was after the climb that his team took control.
In a hectic finale, as the wide boulevards of Marseille led the riders down towards the Mediterranean, two ninety-degree turns in the final 2km made it dangerous. But Martin was immense, leading Cavendish’s sprint ‘train’ from the front until, in the final 400 metres, his lead-out man, Gert Steegmans, launched himself at the line.
It was a much-needed win for the 28-year-old, who had been affected by an illness he did his best to conceal in the opening days of the Tour, keeping quiet in the hope he could get over it before any of his rivals realised he was suffering.
‘The sprint wasn’t too difficult,’ said Cavendish. ‘I didn’t have to do anything. I would have felt I’d let the guys down if I didn’t win. ‘I didn’t have to accelerate off the wheel, I just came off [Steegmans’] wheel at speed,’ he continued. ‘I am super happy with that.’
The problem for Cavendish has been his health — he had bronchitis last week and was on antibiotics until Sunday. ‘It wasn’t easy,’ he said, ‘because I’m still suffering. I’m not 100 per cent, but I’m much better.
‘After the disappointment of Saturday [stage one, when he was held up by the crash], and finishing second yesterday (Tuesday) [in the team time trial], I’m really, really happy.’
‘My Tour had been a little bit frustrating but I normally don’t win until 5th stage anyway.
‘We were motivated today, Orica normally don’t do any work but we could sit back and let them chase today.
‘We didn’t catch the break until the last minute and needed more men for the lead-out, then got disrupted when we needed to stay on one side of the road. But you saw how committed everyone is and that they have got faith that if the lead-out is right, we will win.’
This is his 24th stage victory in the Tour, and leaves him one shy of Andre Leducq’s 25 for third all-time in the event’s history.
There was no change at the top of the general classification, with Orica GreenEdge’s Simon Gerrans retaining yellow, and his teammates Daryl Impey and Michael Albasini are on the same time.
Michal Kwiatkowski and Sylvain Chavanel of Omega Pharma-Quick-step are fourth and fifth, while Hagan’s second place keeps him in the green jersey. Stage six takes place on Thursday (today), from Aix to Montpellier. (MailOnline)
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