Cavendish doubles up rivals
Tuesday 7 July 2009 19:06, UK
Mark Cavendish bagged his second stage victory in a row at the Tour de France on Monday. Fabian Cancellara retained the yellow jersey.
Team Columbia sprinter wins second Tour de France stage in a row
Britain's Mark Cavendish produced another perfect sprint to take victory on stage three of the Tour de France in La Grande-Motte. The 24-year-old captured his second win in as many days, having once again been given the perfect lead out by Team Columbia. Cavendish hit the front in the closing stages of the 196.5 kilometre route from Marseilles and was never challenged on his way to the finish line. Norway's Thor Hushovd of Cervelo finished second with Frenchman Cyril Lemoine coming home third for Skil-Shimano. "It was like junior racing sometimes," said Cavendish, who becomes the first Briton to hold the green jersey for two consecutive days, referring to the tactics of rival teams.Nerves
"Everybody's nervous about the team time-trial tomorrow I think so we were the only team who were willing to take it on. What a way to stick it to them. "It was closer than it was yesterday. Thor's one of the best sprinters on the planet. Again Mark Renshaw did everything right to launch me perfect and I was able to finish it off. "I'm just taking the victory for the team. The small group was caused by my team riding 100 percent." Cavendish was part of a 27-man group, which included overall leader Fabian Cancellara and Lance Armstrong, but not Armstrong's Astana team-mate and pre-race favourite Alberto Contador, who pulled clear in the closing 30km. Saxo Bank's Cancellara retained the yellow jersey, 33 seconds clear of Tony Martin and 40 ahead of Armstrong, who is now up to third in the general classification. At the start of the day, Samuel Dumoulin and Maxime Bouet made an early breakaway, with Ruben Perez Moreno and Koen de Kort subsequently joining them, quickly pulling six minutes clear of the peloton. The field was slow to react to the quartet, who stretched their lead past 11 minutes before a response finally came at around the half-way mark.Chase
In red-hot conditions in Provence, when the lead did start to reduce, it did so quickly and was down to around eight minutes as they began the climb up the Col de la Vayede. The gap continued to lessen as the riders passed the city of Arles and through the Camargue national park. And the lead evaporated completely just inside 30km, the plucky De Kort the last of the escapees to be swallowed up. Team Columbia's decision to suddenly step up pace at the front saw the peloton split, with Armstrong the only overall contender not to be caught on the wrong side. The Texan ended up gaining 41 seconds on his Astana colleague Contador, who slipped from second to fourth in the general classification. Stage three result:1 M Cavendish (Britain/Columbia) 5 hrs 1 min 24 secs
2 T Hushovd (Norway/ Cervelo) "
3 C Lemoine (France/ Skil-Shimano) "
4 S Dumoulin (France/Cofidis) "
5 J Pineau (France/Quick-Step) "
6 F Cancellara (Switzerland/Saxo Bank) "
7 F Wegmann (Germany/Milram ) "
8 F Beppu (Japan/Skil-Shimano) "
9 M Bouet (France/Agritubel) "
10 L Gerdemann (Germany/Milram) " Overall standings:
1 F Cancellara (Switzerland/Saxo Bank) 9 hrs 50 mins 58 secs
2 T Martin (Germany/Columbia) +33 secs
3 L Armstrong (US/Astana) +40" Sprinter standings:
1 M Cavendish (Britain/Columbia) 70 points
2 T Hushovd (Norway/Cervelo) 54
3 S Dumoulin (France/Cofidis) 36