Tour de France Stage 13: Cavendish Cannot Be Beaten
When it comes to bunch sprints, there are no riders who are even close to being at the same level as Mark Cavendish. The rider from the Isle of Man has set himself up for a hat-trick of victories after claiming first place in the two transitional stages between the Pyrenees and the Alps. He admitted that he was getting tired but he has been able to dominate the sprints in Narbonne and again in Nimes. His rivals may change but the Columbia rider is able to answer each challenge with relative ease. He is now ranked second in the points classification with the same points as Thor Hushovd and the green jersey must now be in the back of his mind.Oscar Freire – “If I lose one day, you can lose everything”
He leads the sprinters classification by 28 points and his team has created special green knicks to match his green jersey but Oscar Freire isn’t convinced that he’s got the sort of form to hold off his rivals in the points classification.
“Roman Feillu and Heinrich Haussler passed me in the last in the last few meters and that means I lost a few more points from what would have been ideal today. Now I have to start paying closer attention to [Mark] Cavendish. If we arrive in Digne-les-Bains tomorrow with another sprint, he can win again. Also in Paris, it’s perfect for him. We’ll see, the green jersey is not mine yet. I have to get some points for the finish. If I lose one day, you can lose everything.
“I’m not very happy with myself because I don’t feel really good in the sprint. Last year I was much better than now. Also at the beginning of the season I was much better in the sprint. And this morning I just didn’t feel good. Sometimes you don’t have the right condition when you want it. I felt before the Tour de France that I was not really good.
“Normally I am very regular but not this month. My tactic now is to stay there every day and while I might not get the victory, I must make sure I’m present at the finish.”
Cadel Evans – “For us it was a good day.”
Before the start Cadel Evans predicted an escape with two riders would get clear and possibly be chased down by a pair of counter-attacking riders. He got half of the forecast right. Once Niki Terpstra and Florent Brard established their break, it was up to teams other than Cadel Evans’ Silence-Lotto squad to do the chasing.
“My injuries are slowly but surely getting better. I still have a few aches and pains but one of these nights soon I’ll be able to sleep on my left side again. “Obviously we don’t have a team full of climbers but Dario Cioni and Yaroslav Popovych have their jobs to do and they’ve been resting these last few days, making sure that they’re following wheels and keeping fresh before we get to the Alps. They’re coming around and better and better each day. I’ve also seen the best Mario Aerts I’ve seen in years. He’s been a good friend at every Tour I’ve done and is going to be a valuable asset again in the coming days.
“CSC has the advantage of numbers but Rabobank don’t have nearly as strong a team as they had last year so I think Denis [Menchov] will be a little bit on his own as well. “I think the Tour will be decided every day between now and Paris, particularly the Alps and the final time trial. Normally I’m the sort of rider who progresses through three weeks and gets better towards the end, but so too do others. Carlos Sastre and Denis Menchov are riding for the same result as me and we haven’t seen the best of them yet.
“It’s better not to take it easy, even on stages like this when there’s not really a lot of jostling in position in the general classification. If you get too relaxed you lose concentration yet for our team today was the optimal situation with the break going early and the sprinters taking this opportunity to go for another stage win. They’re running out of opportunity so I can understand why they worked so hard today. For us it was a good day.”
Mark Cavendish – “I didn’t die...”
All the sprint specialists were lined up again for the race to the line in Nimes but none of them could get within a bike length of Mark Cavendish. The Columbia rider is confident about his ability but humble about his chances of challenging for the green jersey despite winning four out of 13 stage so far in his second Tour de France.
“I had to give it a final push and give it full gas again at the end because when I did the initial kick I didn’t realize there was a headwind at the finish. I thought, ‘Oh no, I’m going to have to get a further advantage…’ and so I put in another kick with about 100 to go in case I died. I didn’t die and I was able to hold on so I’m pleased.
“My team-mates were absolutely willing to put in the work for me. You could see it all day long. There was a breakaway so they had to use their legs and ride hard. There was a crosswind and they were doing everything they could to give me shelter and they did that in the final too.
“I was dropped off by Marcus Burghardt who delivered me to the Liquigas train and then I was able to use that to my advantage and go on to win the stage. “There is a little bit of a joke going around about how I’m demoralizing the other sprinters but it’s all in good nature. You know, I can win four stages but I’m still no closer to the green jersey which is what the Tour is all about. You have to be consistently good and I’m not experienced enough to be consistently good. If might have a win but then I’ll come 10th. Where guys like Oscar [Freire] will get second, third, second, third, third… and so on. That adds up to get the green jersey. “We’ll still see if I decide to go all the way to Paris. I’m still taking it day by day.”
