Tour de France: Bullish Mark Cavendish storms to victory

Published on Wednesday 6 July 2011 18:13

Great Britain's Mark Cavendish yesterday scorched to the 16th Tour de France stage win of his career before hinting at the demons which lie beneath his combustible personality.

The 26-year-old from the Isle of Man came from behind to belatedly open his 2011 Tour account on the crash-strewn 164.5-kilometres fifth stage from Carhaix to Cap Frehel on the Brittany coast.

Cavendish, who is reportedly set to join Team Sky at the expiry of his HTC-Highroad contract, came off the wheel of fellow Briton Geraint Thomas before accelerating around to take the win ahead of Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto), who inherited the green jersey from previous incumbent Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar), who finished third.

Cavendish later compared the surprise win with his 2009 success in Aubenas, dedicated it to his recently-deceased dog, accused former team-mate Andre Greipel of striking him and rebuked a journalist for a factually inaccurate question.

In an interview with French television, Cavendish also pointed to his head and said: "Most of my problems are in here. But once I get settled I'm normally all right and it gets easier.

"I'm just passionate about the sport. I just love to win. Maybe people don't like my character so they try to do things, not in a sporting way by disqualifying me or taking points from me."

Cavendish was later asked to expand on his point, but stopped short.

He added: "If I go into that, we won't get out of here tonight. But it's what makes me tick."

It was an interesting end to a hectic day which saw RadioShack leader Janez Brajkovic taken to hospital with concussion and a suspected fractured collar bone after crashing out of the Tour and Nicki Sorensen, the Danish champion, pulled down by a photographer's motorbike.

Sorensen's team leader Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard) and Team Sky's Bradley Wiggins were among those also to fall, while Tom Boonen (QuickStep) had a heavy tumble on the tarmac and suffered for much of a day which saw Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) retain the yellow jersey.

The finale along narrow, undulating roads was always going to be challenging and so it proved, with numerous attacks attempted and foiled.

Cavendish was supported by team-mates Matt Goss and Tony Martin before rounding Thomas and sealing victory. It was a move which could become common in 2012.

He added: "It was a difficult win and it was one I had to give 100 per cent. It's taken a lot out of me." The Briton has spoken of silencing doubters in recent weeks, believing he has been written off. He added: "It's always sweet to silence ignoramuses. They know who they are. It will happen again."

If there are any doubters of his ability, it is perhaps in relation to the Manxman's bid for the points classification's green jersey.Despite six wins in 2009 and five in 2010, Cavendish has fallen short and after five stages of the 2011 Tour he sits in fourth in the race for the maillot vert, 36 points behind Gilbert.

Cavendish would perhaps be closer had he not been impeded at the day's intermediate sprint by Rojas and Boonen, who were later punished and docked points. Cavendish suggested he will have to rest in the coming days following his effort in the finale, but today's 226.5km stage from Dinan to Lisieux and tomorrow's 218km stage from Le Mans to Chateauroux are likely to end in sprint finishes and he could add to his prolific record.

Chateauroux is where Cavendish recorded his first Tour stage success in 2008. Thomas, who finished fifth and retained the best young rider's white jersey, insisted he was seeking to help his Team Sky colleague Edvald Boasson Hagen, rather than Cavendish. "I was trying to get up to Edvald because I was going to tell him I'd lead him out," said Thomas.

Thomas' priority remains helping his leader Wiggins, who crashed with around 100km to go. Wiggins said: "It was a really, really horrible stage. I didn't really crash that hard; I sort of crashed behind the crash and just bent my handlebars and brakes and things like that."