Mark Cavendish won his first stage at the Tour de France for Team Sky and his first in the rainbow jersey. After so much has been said about the difficulties Cavendish would face in winning bunch sprints, the isle of Manx man has come out and blitzed the field. André Greipel had been lead out by his Lotto-Belisol team and was aggrieved at his second placing. Expressing disappointment that he couldn’t reward his team after their efforts to drop him off for the win, he also appeared aggrieved Cavendish had been able to come around him without relying upon his own teams efforts. Matt Goss came in third and was one of many riders who later used Twitter to tell the fans to ‘stand back’ and do their best in order to avoid causing accidents. Goss had also complained about certain riders who had tried to jump his Orica-GreenEdge train as riders jostled for position in the sprint. Seeing that Goss had won the intermediate sprint earlier during the stage, his frustration with the peloton may have been justified.
Mark Cavendish is now the 6th most successful stage winner at the Tour de France and the only one in the top twenty stage winners still active. If Cav is to win two more stages, he would be the fourth most successful stage winner in the history of the Tour. All the more remarkable considering that both Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault, as the top two stage winners overall, have won the overall classification five times, Lance Armstrong seven times and André Leducq twice. André Darrigade is the only rider above Cav not to have the Tour overall. Cav is just one win away from drawing level with André Darrigade and Armstrong on 22 stage wins and could well do so by the end of the Tour. The men who are considered to be the greatest sprinters of the 21st century and late 20th century are lumped together on only 12 wins, some distance behind Cavendish. Eric Zabel won six points classification, Robbie McEwen won three and Mario Cipollini who didn’t win a Tour points classification but won three at the Giro d’Italia as well as 42 stages in the Italian Grand Tour are all easily eclipsed by the Sky rider. Even with his team focused on yellow, don’t put it beyond Cavendish to move up the stage winner’s standings once again.
Cavendish may not finish the 2012 Tour in order to fine tune his preparations for the Olympic road race in London on July 28. If he does leave the Tour early it would leave it open for another sprinter to try their luck in winning on the Champs-Élysées and possibly taking the green jersey as well. Peter Sagan now leads the points classification after his sixth place in Stage Two and will wear the green jersey in his own right tomorrow. Sagan had been wearing the jersey as the second placed rider in the classification during the stage as the leader of the classification, Fabian Cancellara currently also leads the overall classification. Sagan is a chance for the points classification but will need to show he can not only match it with the best but also beat them. So far this season Sagan has been unstoppable but he is yet to sprint against truly world class pedigree riders. As well as beating the world’s best, Sagan will also need to be competing in the intermediate sprint points to ensure he keeps picking up points in the classification. As this is the second year in which intermediate points will be worth as much as the finish line, Sagan will be at a disadvantage to Cavendish, Goss and Greipel among others who all competed in last year’s edition of the race and will know how to balance the sprinting efforts. The green jersey could change hands again after tonight’s stage and it may only be a matter of time before Cavendish is on the podium being awarded one.
Mark Cavendish is now the 6th most successful stage winner at the Tour de France and the only one in the top twenty stage winners still active. If Cav is to win two more stages, he would be the fourth most successful stage winner in the history of the Tour. All the more remarkable considering that both Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault, as the top two stage winners overall, have won the overall classification five times, Lance Armstrong seven times and André Leducq twice. André Darrigade is the only rider above Cav not to have the Tour overall. Cav is just one win away from drawing level with André Darrigade and Armstrong on 22 stage wins and could well do so by the end of the Tour. The men who are considered to be the greatest sprinters of the 21st century and late 20th century are lumped together on only 12 wins, some distance behind Cavendish. Eric Zabel won six points classification, Robbie McEwen won three and Mario Cipollini who didn’t win a Tour points classification but won three at the Giro d’Italia as well as 42 stages in the Italian Grand Tour are all easily eclipsed by the Sky rider. Even with his team focused on yellow, don’t put it beyond Cavendish to move up the stage winner’s standings once again.
Cavendish may not finish the 2012 Tour in order to fine tune his preparations for the Olympic road race in London on July 28. If he does leave the Tour early it would leave it open for another sprinter to try their luck in winning on the Champs-Élysées and possibly taking the green jersey as well. Peter Sagan now leads the points classification after his sixth place in Stage Two and will wear the green jersey in his own right tomorrow. Sagan had been wearing the jersey as the second placed rider in the classification during the stage as the leader of the classification, Fabian Cancellara currently also leads the overall classification. Sagan is a chance for the points classification but will need to show he can not only match it with the best but also beat them. So far this season Sagan has been unstoppable but he is yet to sprint against truly world class pedigree riders. As well as beating the world’s best, Sagan will also need to be competing in the intermediate sprint points to ensure he keeps picking up points in the classification. As this is the second year in which intermediate points will be worth as much as the finish line, Sagan will be at a disadvantage to Cavendish, Goss and Greipel among others who all competed in last year’s edition of the race and will know how to balance the sprinting efforts. The green jersey could change hands again after tonight’s stage and it may only be a matter of time before Cavendish is on the podium being awarded one.
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