St 5, Cavendish Fights Them Off As Peloton Beaten Up By Crashes

The peloton was beaten up by crashes caused by crosswinds, narrow roads and jitters during Wednesday's Stage 5 across the northwest tip of the Brittany coast of France from Carhaix to Cap Frehel, two first-time event hosts. Casting aside all doubters, a defiant Mark Cavendish out-sprinted Stage 1-winner Philippe Gilbert, Spain's J.J. Rojas and race leader and current world-champion Thor Hushovd to win in what he called "a very hard sprint."
     Prior to Wednesday's stage, Cavendish said: "It's funny how people act isn't it? Last year I hadn't won a stage after five days and people were doubting me. I went on to win quite a few stages, didn't I?"  The bravado of Cavendish is actually his salvation. And, if you meet him, no one is more cocksure or determined to win in a head-to-head sprint. His lead out train of Bernhard Eisel,  Matt Goss and Mark Renshaw is second to none and have dominated in recent years.  Cavendish said because his team has dominated that the organizers have made the sprint more difficult to offset that dominace.
     The Manx Missile has now won an amazing 16 stages in five years and this Tour could serve up as many as five to six additional opportunities to win.
     Cavendish delivered for his team HTC-Highroad in what could be classified as a dicey sprint, noting a downhill section with a tailwind at less than 2 kilometers to go really revved up the speeds. The finish was slightly uphill and narrow. It wasn't for the faint at heart. But then again, no world-class sprinter thinks of crashing at 55 kilometers per hour.
     The crashes to avoid actually happened mostly in the second half of the race as the peloton set up before its stint along the coastline. Roads were narrow. The pack was bunched. Wheels overlapped. Former world-champion Tom Boonen and three other teammates hit the deck hard. Slovenian champion Janez Brajkovic, a top 10 contender, crashed hard on his head and was taken to the hospital. On the same crash, podium contender Robert Gesink of the Netherlands crashed and flipped but still got up to finish. Several other notables went down including three-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador and several other Radio Shack riders.
     The American greats Lance Armstrong and Greg LeMond always said there is an element of luck to avoid crash and injury for a three-week long race as intense as the Tour de France. LeMond once told me it's impossible to be in good position all the time for every hour and every inch of a 4,000 kilometer race.  To date, luck and positioning has favored Hushovd but the Norwegian also has pointed to the Tour de France like never before.' He continues to hold on to the leader's jersey with no intention of giving it up.
     Hushovd said he was tired today but responded well in the sprint, a good sign. It was his Garmin teammates, especially the unsung strong riding of David Zabriskie, Ryder Hejesdal and neo pro Ramunas Vardauskas, the Lithuanian champion, dictating the pace for more than 100 kilometers on today's stage. Team Garmin-Cervelo's General Manager Jonathan Vaughters predicted Wednesday's stage to be one of "the difficult stages of this year's Tour, with narrow roads, cross winds and positioning."
     For Cadel Evans, he remained in the cat's bird seat, only one second behind Hushovd, without the pressure of owning the yellow jersey and having his team spend energy it will need come the high Alpine stages. For all the 'luck' needed, he remained upright and out of danger while a few other contenders got dinged on the pavement. Every bump and bruise takes it toll over 22 days.

Stage 6 predictions: The peloton takes it longest stage, with a 226.5-kilometer (140 miles) swing into the Normandy region of northwest France, departing Dinan en route to Lisieux. The race features three categorized climbs with a slight uphill run into the finish. Garmin, with some tired legs after defending the yellow jersey while also winning two stages, will have to make a difficult decision: ride hard at the front and keep Hushovd in the leader's jersey, or let a breakaway of riders deep down in the G.C. go. The following day is near pancake flat, therefore, the possibility of holding it together for a sprint may be likely to get Hushovd in the yellow jersey for two more days. Garmin may try to get a couple other teams to shoulder the workload by cutting a little deal. This could be a day for Classics type rider to steal a victory or if it's a breakaway, expect it to come from a French team or Belgian rider for the win. Of all the days, this may be one of the unpredictable of this year's Tour. Many a pro cycling career have been made on days like Thursday.