German Andre Greipel took his revenge on former teammate Mark Cavendish by beating the Briton to the line at Stage 10 of the Tour de France. The overall race favorites stayed out of trouble, leaving the day to a sprinters battle with another to come tomorrow.
With four categorized climbs, the route was difficult for true sprinters like Cavendish and Tyler Farrar who prefer the flats. Philippe Gilbert, the Belgian currently leading the green jersey competition, enjoys days like this, as the hills provide an opportunity to attack and speed ahead. However, Alessandro Petacchi was the only leading sprinter dropped by the climbs, though Cavendish’s teammates Mark Renshaw and Matt Goss also fell behind. As this year’s winner of Milan-San Remo, a long, fast race with an uphill finish, Goss’ performance was a disappointment for the Australian.
Cavendish was first among the sprinters to the intermediate sprint, though Vacansoleil complained that he and Renshaw blocked their acceleration. On the road, Omega Pharma-Lotto drove hard for Gilbert and Greipel, while HTC-Highroad was in front most of the day to set up Cavendish, known as the Manx Missile. In the last 10K, the teams of Sky and Garmin-Cervelo joined in to set a fast tempo, but an attack by Gilbert set five riders ahead and shook the nerves of the peloton.
The last kilometer featured narrow roads with two sharp bends. Without his favorite lead-out men, Renshaw and Goss, Cavendish fought his way through a crowd of players including Jose Joaquin Rojas and world champion Thor Hushovd. It looked like the 26-year-old from the British Isle of Man would again claw his way to the win, as on Stage 5, but Greipel had more firepower and beat him by one wheel. Farrar was missing in action, though teammate Hushovd came in fourth.
A powerful sprinter, the 28-year-old Greipel won his first stage at the Tour de France in his first appearance in the race. For years, he was Cavendish’s teammate on HTC and was frustrated when the team focused first on the Briton’s prospects. They had some personal animosity, which may have added to the team decision not to bring Greipel to the Tour. This season, he switched to Omega Pharma-Lotto, a Belgian team composed mostly of Belgian riders, and finally realized his dream of competing at the world’s biggest bike race. Greipel and teammate Gilbert have brought home most of the team’s honors, including Gilbert’s Stage 1 victory on July 2nd.
With a body like a G.I. Joe action figure, Greipel is a strongman. His wins include stage wins at the Vuelta a Espana, Giro d’Italia, and Tour Down Under, plus Tours of Belgium, Britain, Turkey, and others. The confidence of today’s win will inspire Greipel to go for back-to-back victories on tomorrow’s flat stage to Lavaur. However, a frustrated Cavendish will be raring to go, and Farrar also seeks his second Tour win. Stay tuned in the last 10 kilometers at least. With just a few sprint finishes left in this race, it’s going to be a battle royale.
In other news, RadioShack’s Yaroslav Popovych did not start due to a fever, leaving the team with just six riders. Teammate Andreas Kloden is suffering from a back injury, probably reducing the team’s prospects to stage wins, a big disappointment for a squad starting with four possible general classification contenders. Covered in bandages and 33 stitches, John Hoogerlund impressed all by competing and completing the race today. He was catapulted onto a barbed wire fence when a television car hit a nearby rider on Sunday, but his earlier riding had earned his the polka-dot jersey of the king of the mountains, which he proudly wore today.
The first rider has left the 2011 Tour de France due to doping results. Alexandr Kolobnev of Katusha tested positive for a diuretic, where penalties range from no penalty to a two-year ban. He withdrew from the race.
Finally, defending champion Alberto Contador is complaining of a knee injury, cause by one of four crashes he has suffered thus far. The Spaniard’s comments may be a classic strategy of playing possum, hoping that competitors will underestimate his form. The truth of the matter will be revealed when the race heads to the Pyrenees on Thursday.
View Stage 10 sprint finish: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/43727136#43727136
Stage 10 top finishers:
1. Andre Greipel (Omega Pharma-Lotto)
2. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad)
3. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar)
4. Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo)
5. Romain Feillu (Vacansoleil)
Complete Stage 10 results: http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/LIVE/us/1000/classement/index.html
Stage 11 map & profile: http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/LIVE/us/1100/etape_par_etape.html
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