TdF Commentary 7/8

Stage 5 Recap

Cavendish silences critics with decisive stage win

After a disappointing start to his Tour de France, crashing before the bunch sprint in Stage 1 and hiccuping in Stage 4, Mark Cavendish finally got the stage win he's been looking for.  A three-man breakaway formed early on and, as expected, was caught near the finish.  As the peloton sped through the winding streets of Montargis, the front of the pack stretched out.  The Garmin-Transitions team looked in control and ready to give Tyler Farrar his first career Tour de France stage victory.  Farrar had injured his arm earlier and had been unable to ride out of the saddle, so the decision to have Farrar contest the sprint was a surprise.

On the approach to the finish, Farrar sat comfortably in second place behind his leadout man Julian Dean, with Thor Hushovd riding at third.  Mark Cavendish was back in fifth, with his HTC-Columbia teammate and leadout man Mark Renshaw in fourth, and the two looked to be out of the running for the stage win.  However, Renshaw would make an amazing leadout, riding up next to Hushovd and bumping him out of the way (a legal maneuver) to get into Farrar's slipstream.  Renshaw would then speed ahead of the Garmin-Transitions riders and slingshot Cavendish to the finish for the easy stage victory.

Some miscommunication between Tyler Farrar and Julian Dean may have cost Farrar the victory.  As Farrar was set to take off, Dean peeled to the left to slingshot Farrar to the right.  However, Farrar instead tried to pass to the left and got caught between his teammate and the wall.  This error cost Farrar a considerable amount of time, and the American had to settle for a 10th place finish.  Farrar is still probably not at 100% though, and the strong move by Mark Renshaw and Mark Cavendish would have made a victory by anyone else incredibly difficult.

Thor Hushovd had a great position leading into the sprint, but claimed to have run out of energy trying to keep with the high pace of the HTC-Columbia and Garmin-Transitions leadout trains.  The green jersey holder finished in fifth place and increased his lead over Alessandro Petacchi in the points classification.  Hushovd's hard efforts in Stages 2 and 3 seemed to have taken a lot out of him, and he will need a good recovery to remain competitive in all the sprints.

Other than the green jersey competition, no notable standings have changed yesterday and today.  Fabian Cancellara remains in yellow, Jérôme Pineau in polka dots, and Geraint Thomas in white (having claimed the jersey in Stage 3).  Team Saxo Bank remains on top of the team classification.  Tomorrow's stage is another flat one, and once again only the green jersey standings should be affected.  Once we head into the Alps on Stage 7, the green jersey race will be put on hold, while all the other classifications will begin to shake up.

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Notable Stage Results

1	Mark Cavendish	Team HTC-Columbia	35 pts
2	Gerald Ciolek	Milram	30 pts
3	Edvald Boasson Hagen	Team Sky	26 pts
4	José Joaquin Rojas	Caisse D'Epargne	24 pts
5	Thor Hushovd	Cervélo TestTeam	22 pts
7	Robbie McEwen	Katusha	19 pts
8	Alessandro Petacchi	Lampre-Farnese	18 pts
10	Tyler Farrar	Garmin-Transitions	16 pts
26	Oscar Freire	Rabobank	0 pts

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Notable Points Standings

1	Thor Hushovd	Cervélo TestTeam	102 pts
2	Alessandro Petacchi	Lampre-Farnese	88 pts
3	Robbie McEwen	Katusha	81 pts
4	José Joaquin Rojas	Caisse D'Epargne	73 pts
5	Edvald Boasson Hagen	Team Sky	64 pts
9	Mark Cavendish	Team HTC-Columbia	50 pts
10	Gerald Ciolek	Milram	49 pts
24	Tyler Farrar	Garmin-Transitions	23 pts
34	Oscar Freire	Rabobank	18 pts

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Stage 6 Preview

Stage 6 is the last chance for the peloton to take it easy before heading into the Alps for four stages.  A category-4 climb comes 23 km from the finish, but by the finish the peloton should have regrouped, caught the breakaway, and set up for a bunch sprint.  Since this is the last flat stage for several days, sprinters' teams won't let a breakaway rider ruin their leaders' last chances at a victory before the mountains begin to torture their legs.  After his redemption today, Mark Cavendish would have to be the favorite to win Stage 6.

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For full Stage 5 results and overall standings, more complete info on Stage 6, and live newsflashes on race day, visit the official TdF website.  Footage of tomorrow's stage can be seen on the Versus channel live in the morning or on tape delay in the evening.  Live coverage on Versus begins at 8:30 AM (ET).