Stay Classy, Boys

A great sprint finish at the Tour de France was marred by unsubstantiated accusations that are all too common in the sport. Stage 15 was won by Mark Cavendish of HTC-Highroad, a lightning rod for criticism like other high-performing cyclists over time. Before today’s stage, long-time rival Andre Greipel of Omega Pharma-Lotto claimed that Cavendish had broken the rules to finish yesterday’s mountain stage by hanging on to a car. After racing, an angry Tyler Farrar of Garmin-Cervelo implied a similar accusation without referring to Cavendish by name. He was also recorded on camera saying to teammate Thor Hushovd, “He shouldn’t even be racing.”

There is no evidence to back up the claims. In an unrelated interview, Bob Stapleton, owner of HTC-Highroad, stated that Cavendish had difficulty finishing the Stage 14 climbs and that the team’s sole focus was to help him make the time cut. This makes sense. Further, Versus commentators stated that they reviewed footage and found no proof of the accusations. They also reminded the audience that even when race referees are not present, the course is lined with spectators who recognize Cavendish and have cameras in their hands, yet no evidence has appeared.

The nasty comments by Greipel and Farra reflect poorly on them. Sadly, unsubstantiated accusations happen all the time in cycling, such as last year’s buzz that Fabian Cancellara had an engine hidden in his bike and the ever-present hints of doping. Cycling fans and online and print media frequently fan the flames of ugliness. All of this empty negativity hurts the sport.

To be honorable competitors, Greipel, Farrar, and all riders should run their own races and take up any grievances with race referees. For the sake of the sport we love, cycling media should always start with the facts, and fans should look to the accomplishments of these amazing athletes, rather than the spoiled sports.

Let’s get back to the world’s most amazing bike race! May the best man win.

Stage 15: Marvelous Mark

“Boom! Number4!” So Mark Cavendish celebrated his fourth stage win at the 2011 Tour de France on Twitter. At the Stage 15 sprint finish into Montpellier, the American team of HTC-Highroad drove hard all day, then launched their Manx Missile to yet another victory. After three days in the mountains, the sprinters delivered a hotly contested race, while the overall contenders plotted their strategies for the Alps.

Early in the day, the race passed the city of Carcassonne, which Cavendish called "one of the most stunning and historical places in France."

Carcassonne

For over 100 kilometers, HTC set the tempo at the front of the peloton, as rival teams did not contribute until the end. In the last 3K, the white and yellow jerseys of Tony Martin, Matt Goss, and Mark Renshaw led Cavendish in the bright green jersey as leader of the points competition. Attacks by Philippe Gilbert of Omega Pharma-Lotto and others were meant to break up the rhythm of the HTC lead-out train, but HTC remained solid. Garmin-Cervelo organized for Tyler Farrar, Lampre for Alessandro Petacchi, and Team Sky for the youngster Ben Swift.

Less than 200 meters to the line, Renshaw launched Cavendish, who was immediately shadowed by Daniel Oss of Liquigas and Farrar. With all his wins, Cavendish is a marked man, and his competitors tried to ride in his slipstream before jumping ahead of him. Yet the Manxman was too fast for them. He crossed the line first, followed closely by Farrar and Petacchi.

The win was the 19^th career stage victory for Cavendish, as well as the 50^th Grand Tour stage victory for HTC-Highroad since its launch in 2007. Headquartered in San Luis Obispo, HTC is considered the most winning pro cycling team in the world with nearly 500 victories to date. Cavendish is honing in on the record of Andre Darrigade, the most winning sprinter ever at the Tour de France with 22 wins over 14 years.

Tomorrow is a rest day. While fans watch a recap of the race on Versus in primetime, the cyclists will be on the road to keep their muscles loose. Lead-out master Mark Renshaw is looking forward to a beer. Racing resumes on Tuesday, and Stage 16 features a steady uphill ride with a moderate climb and fast descent at the end. The overall contenders will try to stay safe and prepare for the decisive stages in the Alps on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

View Stage 15 sprint finish: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/43785331#43785331

Stage 15 top finishers:

1. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad)

2. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervelo)

3. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD)

4. Daniel Oss (Liquigas-Cannondale)

5. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar)

Complete Stage 15 results: http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/LIVE/us/1500/classement/index.html

Stage 16 map & profile:

http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/LIVE/us/1600/etape_par_etape.html

Stage 3: American Wins on the Fourth

Tyler Farrar burst over the finish line, bringing home his first Tour de France stage win and the second consecutive victory for Team Garmin-Cervelo. The win came fittingly on the Fourth of July for the American riding for an American team, while the British were disappointed with the miss for favorite Mark Cavendish, known as the Man from Man.

The intermediate sprint was again exciting, a new focus this year after a change in the rules for the points competition. Cavendish of HTC-Highroad was first among the sprinters, earning 10 points, while Farrar was not a factor. Garmin has stated that their goal is to win stages, not to pursue the green jersey awarded to the rider earning the most points at designated spots over the route.

Once a five-man breakaway was caught by the peloton, the sprinters’ teams organized at the front, and HTC laid out its famous lead-out train of riders escorting Cavendish until the last possible moment. Peter Velits drove the HTC train, then pulled off for Bernard Eisel, then Tony Martin, who appeared surprised by Eisel’s short turn at the front. Matt Goss followed Martin, but a crack in the train occurred at the 2K to go mark. The team was unable to reorganize, and Cavendish was left on his own, stuck in the middle of a group of riders and about five men back. In the meantime, Garmin gathered its lead-out men for Farrar, including Thor Hushovd in the yellow jersey as current race leader. While Hushovd will not keep the jersey for long, it was an unusual sight to see the man in yellow at the front of the brunch sprint, as race leaders normally stay out of the fast, dangerous sprint finishes.

It was a great victory for Farrar, the 27-year-old from Washington. With stage wins at the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta de Espana, he was hungry for a piece of the Tour de France. As he crossed the line, he formed a “W” with his hands, a tribute to his friend Wouter Weylandt who died in a crash at the Giro in May.

The competition between Garmin and HTC is a compelling storyline for American Independence day. These two American teams, along with BMC and RadioShack, demonstrate the flourishing world of professional cycling in the U.S. We have come a long way from the days when Lance Armstrong’s U.S. Postal and Discovery teams were the only players and were focused solely on his victories. Now, American teams are competing at sprints and time trials as well, plus a number of American cyclists are bound to impress in the mountains and the general classification (G.C.).

Indeed, the American climbers like Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner may come out to play at Tuesday’s Stage 4. The 172.5 kilometer stage will be distinguished by the final climb into Mur-de-Bretagne. Not long, but as steep as 15% in some areas, the last few kilometers are considered as fun as riding up a wall. The G.C. contenders must stay in the front here, and someone may lose his chance for a win if he cracks. Cadel Evans is motivated to maintain his high standings, while Alberto Contador may take this opportunity to bring back the time he has already lost on his rivals. The last 5 kilometers, especially the last brutal 2K, will be the highlight.

Stage 3 Top Finishers:

1. Tyler Farrar (Team Garmin-Cervelo)

2. Romain Feillu (Vacansoleil)

3. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar)

4. Sebastien Hinault (Ag2r La Mondiale)

5. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad)

View complete Stage 3 results: http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/LIVE/us/300/classement/index.html

View map and profile of Stage 4: http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/LIVE/us/400/index.html

Stage 1: It Pays to Ride Out Front

Crashes, surprise splits, teamwork, sprint winners and losers, and a decent little climb all came together today to launch the Tour de France with a bit of everything, like an appetizer sampler at El Torito. Stage 1 included a taste of the many races within the big race and whet our palates for the next three weeks of competition.

While the stage was too hilly for the sprinters, the new set-up of the points competition prompted a heated race in the middle of the course. As usual, points are awarded to the stage winners, and a descending number of points are awarded to the top group of finishers. However this year, race organizers have reduced the number of opportunities to earn points over the course route to one spot. This is the intermediate sprint and is now marked on the course with a prominent green flag. The leader of the points competition wears the green jersey, one of the four jerseys awarded at the finale in Paris. (The others include the yellow jersey for the overall win, the polka dot jersey for the king of the mountains, and the white jersey for the best young rider.)

The change makes each intermediate sprint more important, and while three breakaway riders were the first to make it, an exciting sprint played out among the hottest sprinters in the world for the remaining points. HTC’s Mark Cavendish shot forward and appeared untouchable, until he missed Garmin’s Tyler Farrar coming up the side. Once Cavendish realized what was happening, it was clear he would be beaten and gave up the fight. Farrar hit the sprint point first among the bunch, earning 13 points toward the green jersey and a certain boost to his confidence. Neither Farrar nor his team has won a single stage at the Tour de France, and the points indicate they are not fooling around this year. Andre Greipel was just behind Farrar. Greipel of Omega Pharma-Lotto is Cavendish’s former teammate and long-time rival. We can expect this to make Cavendish—the Manx Missile—quite annoyed, and when he is annoyed, he can produce amazing results. Watch out for Monday’s flat stage for a rematch.

An epic crash occurred 8 kilometers to the finish line. It was epic thankfully not for any significant damage to the riders, but for splitting the peloton in half. The entire second half of the pack was stopped cold following a crash caused by a spectator standing too close to the course. Cadel Evans of BMC raced on with the front group, as he had spent the day riding at the front with his teammates around him. Their extra effort paid off when Evans finished second on the day and built a nice cushion against general classification favorite Alberto Contador. The three-time winner was caught in the first crash, then another crash less than 2 kilometers to the finish. Contador finished 1 minute 20 seconds behind the stage winner, giving Evans a 1 minute 17 second advantage over Contador. The other pre-race favorite Andy Schleck finished with the first group, securing a 1 minute 14 second advantage over the Spaniard. Remember that last year, Schleck lost the Tour to Contador by a total of 39 seconds overall, so while we have a long way to go, Evans is grinning in his sleep tonight.

So who won the stage? Phillipe Gilbert of Omega Pharma-Lotto. He was one of the favorites going in because of his good performances on the rolling type of route as seen today. Gilbert was sporting a yellow, red, and black jersey as the new champion of Belgium, though it would also blend in well at McDonald’s. With today’s victory, he will wear the leader’s yellow jersey at tomorrow’s stage.

Looking forward to tomorrow, Stage 2 will be a completely different competition. The team time trial is a gorgeous demonstration of the concept of drafting. Each team rolls out together, racing against the clock. Riders take turns at the front, while the rest of the team follows in a line behind. The front rider suffers the most, breaking the wind for the others who are resting. They are drafting behind the front man. Next, the front rider pulls off to the side, falling to the back of the line, and a fresh man takes his turn at the front. They rotate through with the strong individual time trialers and general classification riders taking the longest pulls at the front, a display of individual sacrifice for the benefit of the team.

When performed at its highest levels, team time trials are beauty in motion. The cyclists are decked out in their aerodynamic kits with long sleeves and pointy helmets. Much of their individuality is gone, and the team is one, with one rider pulling at the front, then a smooth transition to the next rider, then another. Lance Armstrong’s teams were always great at the team time trial, and they were often called Stormtroopers. The men became disciplined machines, working seamlessly together, weaving amongst each other. Lance’s teams were so good that race organizers took this discipline out of the Tour de France, and we are thrilled that it is back this year.

The favorites for Stage 2 are HTC-Highroad and Garmin-Cervelo. Garmin will certainly be looking for that first Tour stage win, and if they win, Thor Hushovd would don the yellow jersey as the race leader. HTC has group of speed demons with a record of success in this discipline, and if they take the stage, Tony Martin would get yellow. Leopard-Trek will also push hard, led by time trial phenomenon Fabian Cancellara and the motivation of Andy Schleck to capture every second possible. RadioShack is another team to watch, with Levi Leipheimer’s time trialing ability and the same culture that created Lance’s wins. Finally, Contador’s Saxo Bank and Evans’ BMC will be fighting not to lose significant time to their rivals.

Watch the whole of Stage 2, as each team that rolls out could provide a great ride. Also, watching the poorer-performing teams illuminates how beautifully the winning teams work together. Coverage continues on Versus, online, and on NBC from 12pm to 1:30pm Pacific time.

View complete Stage 1 results: http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/LIVE/us/100/classement/index.html

View Stage 2 map and profile: http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/LIVE/us/200/etape_par_etape.html