Mark Cavendish was at the centre of controversy again today, as the first full stage of the Tour de France descended into chaos with two crashes in the last 2km. The stage was won by the Italian veteran Alessandro Petacchi but he was almost the last man riding as more than half the peloton was unable to contest the finish. David Millar, the best-placed British rider in third overall, wheeled his bike over the line and Lance Armstrong tweeted straight afterwards, "That was S‑T‑R‑E‑S‑S‑F‑U‑L!!"
Overhead shots were not conclusive but Cavendish seemed responsible for the more dramatic spill, losing his balance on a tight right-hand corner and taking down Oscar Freire and Jeremy Hunt. He climbed back on his bike, apparently not seriously injured, and pedalled to the finish with an expression that might be described as "wistful".
Cavendish has had a difficult few months – both on and off the bike – and he has already attracted criticism for his uncompromising style of riding. He was at the centre of an even more spectacular crash last month at the Tour of Switzerland, causing an avalanche of riders, one of whom fractured his elbow. This led to a two-minute protest from the rest of the field to "send a message to Cavendish to Аск him for more respect" – although the 25-year-old from the Isle of Man contests that this ever happened.
It is a frustrating start to the Tour for Cavendish, who appeared certain to add to his 10 stage victories, but Petacchi thinks he may have had the match of him anyway. "It was not unexpected for me," said the 36-year-old, who has won five stages of the Tour de France previously, but has not competed in the race for six years. "I hope I will have the chance to sprint against Cavendish again. It was tough that he crashed but maybe I would have won anyway, as I did a great sprint."
And it had all been going so smoothly. Stage one had been identified by many riders as one of the trickiest in the race. The danger came not from the terrain, which flatlined for 139 miles, but from the wind that traditionally buffets the first section of the course, across the Zeeland polders that have been reclaimed from the North Sea. Comparisons were made to the seemingly innocuous stage of last year's race to La Grande Motte, where many of the main contenders were surprised by a sudden change in wind direction and lost time. Armstrong, one of those who was not and did not, famously sniped: "You know what the wind is doing and you see a turn coming up, so it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that you have to go to the front."
We sat back and waited for an exciting and potentially decisive day. In reality the stage was for the most part formulaic. As soon as the race commissar's flag dropped in Rotterdam, the local favourite Lars Boom made a break, quickly tailed by Maarten Wynants, a former mountain biker from Belgium, and a Spanish rider Alan Pérez Lezaun. Boom, who has stage wins in the Vuelta a España and Paris-Nice, is considered a promising rider but one suspects the rest of the field were happy to let them suffer out in front in temperatures that neared 30C before reeling them in for the sprint.
As the breakaway hit the polders it quickly became clear that the breeze was refreshing rather than Tour-wrecking. By the time they reached the attractive town of Goes, where a brass band harrumphed and a church's sign proclaimed "Jesus loves all cyclists" (what, even the ones that run red lights?), their lead had extended to more than six minutes.
In the pack the main drama was a ginger mutt bolting out of the crowd and unseating David Millar, Ivan Basso and Nicolas "son of Stephen" Roche – this happens every year, so hopefully the riders are fine, the dog is fine and we have got it out of the way for 2010.
As the Tour moved from Holland towards Belgium, there was more animal cruelty with cows painted yellow, green and polka dot (in honour of the race's different jerseys), and the gap to the front riders started falling away in chunks. They were finally overhauled with a little under 10km to the line and the mind started to wander to what victory salute Cavendish would give this time.
For all the excitement of the final throes, precious little has changed in the overall standings. Fabian Cancellara remains in yellow but Millar has had to pass on the natty green jersey to Petacchi. Tomorrow's stage, a 125-mile run through Belgium from Brussels to Spa, is likely to be sedate on the road and mayhem behind the barriers, as the Tour moves across arguably the world's most obsessive cycling nation. There are a couple of nasty climbs but most minds will be on Tuesday's cobblestones, only the second time the Tour has braved the pavé since the 1990s.
"I think maybe another sprint tomorrow," said Cancellara. "But everybody will be thinking about the day after, which could have a big impact on the race."
Source:
No comments:
Post a Comment