First modification: 07/06/2021 – 20:16
In a true transitional stage, where the peloton resumed the race after the first day of rest, Mark Cavendish again won the massive sprint at Valence, ahead of Belgians Wout Van Aert and Jasper Philipsen. His third stage victory of this Tour and the 33rd of his career at the Grande Boucle. He’s one win away from Eddy Merckx’s all-time record. Day without change in the general.
Since raising his arms in Fougères, at the end of stage four, Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck Quick Step) has not stopped winning. In each flat stage the man dressed in green confirms that he is the fastest. He had already shown it in the sixth stage. Today for this tenth fraction of the 2021 Tour between Albertville and Valence, the Briton was again the big favorite. And it did not fail. After a clean sprint, Cavendish crossed the line just ahead of Wout Van Aert (Jumbo Visma) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin Fenix). They are followed by French Nacer Bouhanni (Arkea Samsic) and Australian Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange).
Cavendish has a fancy team
After the finish, Mark Cavendish hugged each of his teammates and thanked them with strong words. “We knew about this arrival. We knew we had to come out of the last corner with room to maintain speed. It’s thanks to my teammates, I haven’t done anything special. I only did the last 150 meters.”
A well-deserved tribute to his team, who are specialists in this type of stage. With the Deceuninck Quick Step team, Cavendish has a luxury train. He has Tim Declercq, “the tractor” to chase the leaks during the stage. And in the last kilometers all the others are at your service to place you in the best position. First there was the world champion, the French Julian Alaphilippe, followed by the Danish Kasper Asgreen, the Italian Davide Ballerini and finally the Danish Michael Morkov. The latter is probably the best pitcher in the pack. Cavendish always follows his wheel up to 200 meters from the finish, when the job is done. A perfect demonstration that cycling is not an individual sport but a collective discipline.
One win from Eddy Merckx’s record
With this victory, the 33rd of his career in the Tour de France, Cavendish is one win away from the all-time record held by Eddy Merckx. He will have a chance to match the Belgian legend this Thursday during stage 12 which is flat.
Cavendish continues to wear the green jersey and increases his lead in this sprinter rankings. He has 218 points, while the second, Michael Matthews, has 159.
In mountain classification, Nairo Quintana had no difficulty keeping the red polka dot jersey. This flat stage had a single fourth category mountain award. The Colombian continues to lead this particular classification with 50 points. Canadian Michaël Woods (Israel Strat-Up nation) follows with 42 points. We should see these two riders ahead during tomorrow’s stage between Sorgues and Malaucènes.
The escape was doomed
Except for the last 15 kilometers when several teams tried to take advantage of the wind to create fans and harm their rivals, the stage was uneventful. Two men fled from the first kilometer. Barely leaving Albertville, Lotto Soudal’s Belgian Tosh Van der Sande and Canadian Hugo Houle (Astana – Premier Tech) escaped to try to achieve the impossible: win a flat stage on the run as sprinter teams seek victory. His chances of being the first to arrive in Valence were equal to the chance of seeing Tadej Pogacar lose his yellow jersey today. Neither one nor the other occurred. Van der Sande and Houle did more than 150 kilometers at the head of the race. They counted up to five minutes on the batch. But the peloton led by Cavendish’s Deceuninck Quick Step team and Nacer Bouhanni’s Arkea Samsic always controlled the difference. 36 kilometers from the finish line they caught up with Van der Sande and Hugo Houle.
In the general, there was no change. Tadej Pogacar continues to lead ahead of Ben O’connor and Rigoberto Urán. But tomorrow the classification could see changes.
Tomorrow will be one of the most anticipated stages of this Tour
The eleventh stage that will be run tomorrow promises to be epic. The 198.9 km route between Sorgues and Malaucènes offers five mountain prizes with a double ascent of the legendary Mont Ventoux. The first ascent of the “Giant of Provence” will have a 22 km climb at 5.1% (first category). The second will be the most difficult: an ascent of 15.7 km at 8.8%, (out of category).
Among the candidates for the stage victory, is the Colombian Miguel Angel López (Movistar) who won the “Mont Ventoux challenge” in June. But the climber has been wasting time on each stage since the beginning of the Tour. Nairo Quintana will surely try to occupy the top positions to keep his King of the Mountain jersey. For the general, the profile of this stage could allow Rigoberto Urán (third) and Richard Carapaz to rise in the classification. And, who knows, Tadej Pogacar could extend his lead even further.
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source https://pledgetimes.com/an-unstoppable-mark-cavendish-sprints-the-tenth-stage-of-the-tour-pogacar-remains-leader/
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