Le Tour de France 2013 – Stage 5: Cagnes-sur-Mer > Marseille, 219km. Genius Cavendish • VeloVeritas

When I heard it was going to be a bunch sprint at the end of Stage Five from Cagnes-sur-Mer to Marseille, I knew there would only be one winner. The anger would have been boiling inside Cavendish since yesterday; losing that TTT by less than a second would have killed him.

The chance for him to be on the podium with his boys – gone.

No one was going to get the better of him after that disappointment.

ASO saw it this way;

‘The profile was flat, a sprint was expected, and a favourite for the fifth stage was nominated by just about everyone.
“If you’ve watched sprints at the Tour de France since 2008, you know who the fastest man in the world is.
“Mr Cavendish has won multiple stages since his first triumph at the Tour and in five years he’s now collected a total of 24… and we can expect this to grow even more judging by the manner in which his Omega Pharma-Quickstep team rode into Marseille.”

I didn’t used to be a fan; but now I can’t help it.

Cagnes-sur-Mer — Mark Cavendish – Sprint Genius.

Conventional wisdom is that you measure intelligence with iQ – but people who study these things will tell you that it’s only part of the story.

You can be a genius with your hands or a musical instrument but not be able to count to ten.

For me, Cav is a sprint genius – Cipollini was more flamboyant but much as it pains me to say it, I think Cav is better.

Off his train, Cipo at his peak was virtually unbeatable – but Cav can win from just about every situation.

Here’s our top 12 reasons why we think he’s shaping up to be the best sprinter, ever;

He has to win, it eats him up when he doesn’t; he has that Merckx-like hunger, that desperation to win.
He has grinta, when Ferrari decked him in the Giro last year he got up, gave himself a shake and was back at the top of the podium within days. Check that one out, he came down hard but there was no moaning, the pain and disappointment were channelled into gunning for the next win.
As Louis Armstrong might say; ‘he has all the time in the world.’ The others are bumping, swerving, panicking, Cav’s in his own wee world where everything happens slower. I’ve seen him freewheel, go backwards out of the box then re-launch to win – extraordinary.
His jump is monstrous; the only way Petacchi could beat him was to anticipate Cav’s jump by a second then hope Cav couldn’t come back at him – if Cav goes first you’ve little chance.
He can ‘go long’ if he has to; at 300 metres – few can do that.
He can win without a train – he had to at Sky. But with the QuickStep train getting more finely tuned by the day, that’s no longer an issue.
He knows himself so well, in the ZLM Tour there were no stage wins; he was using it for training – not going too deep.
He really does appreciate team work – it’s not propaganda, he values loyalty and rewards it.
He’s consistent; when you sign Cavendish you know you’re signing a man who’ll deliver.
He’s a powerful motivator. When we spoke to his personal soigneur, Aldis at the Giro, he told us that when the QuickStep team arrived at the race it was just a group of guys – within days Cav had them so that they’d ride themselves into the ground for him.
Glasgow; he was in the break all day, doing spells up Saint Vincent Street – he was brilliant.
Talkin’ Italian; we like that he makes the effort; and so do the Italians – it’s professional.

Tomorrow? Flat but with the wind ready to ambush the unwary – maybe it’ll catch out QuickStep?

Maybe a pig will fly past?

Results - Le Tour de France 2013 – Stage 5: Cagnes-sur-Mer > Marseille

Stage Result

1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 5:31:51
2 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling
3 Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale Pro Cycling
4 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol
5 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Lampre-Merida
6 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha
7 Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
8 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin-Sharp
9 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Sojasun
10 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team
11 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
12 John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano
13 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-GreenEdge
14 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
15 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
16 Egoitz Garcia Echeguibel (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
17 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
18 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
19 Wouter Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
20 Julien El Fares (Fra) Sojasun
21 Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
22 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano
23 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
24 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
25 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
26 Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Belisol
27 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
28 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling
29 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
30 Maxime Monfort (Bel) RadioShack Leopard
31 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano
32 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
33 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
34 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
35 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
36 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
37 Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin-Sharp
38 Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Katusha
39 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
40 Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling
41 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Cannondale Pro Cycling
42 Maxime Mederel (Fra) Sojasun
43 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
44 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Belisol
45 Jan Bakelants (Bel) RadioShack Leopard
46 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team
47 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
48 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team
49 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
50 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
51 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Sky Procycling
52 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha
53 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano
54 Robert Gesink (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
55 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
56 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Cannondale Pro Cycling
57 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
58 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
59 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha
60 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Merida
61 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre-Merida
62 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team
63 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar
64 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar
65 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar
66 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida
67 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
68 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) RadioShack Leopard
69 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
70 Julien Simon (Fra) Sojasun
71 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
72 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr
73 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
74 Lars Boom (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
75 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
76 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
77 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Movistar Team
78 Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Col) Lampre-Merida
79 Bram Tankink (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
80 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team
81 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
82 Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
83 Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
84 Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Merida
85 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
86 Andy Schleck (Lux) RadioShack Leopard
87 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
88 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team
89 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
90 Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
91 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
92 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
93 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Sky Procycling
94 Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-Merida
95 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Sky Procycling
96 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
97 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team
98 Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team
99 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Sky Procycling
100 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
101 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
102 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol
103 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Sharp
104 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin-Sharp
105 Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra) FDJ.fr
106 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ.fr
107 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
108 Laurent Didier (Lux) RadioShack Leopard
109 Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (CRc) Movistar Team
110 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
111 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana Pro Team
112 Brian Vandborg (Den) Cannondale Pro Cycling
113 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Katusha
114 Tony Gallopin (Fra) RadioShack Leopard
115 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
116 Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Movistar Team
117 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ.fr
118 Thomas Leezer (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
119 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-GreenEdge
120 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ.fr
121 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team
122 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack Leopard
123 Jens Voigt (Ger) RadioShack Leopard
124 Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
125 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar
126 Alberto Losada Alguacil (Spa) Katusha
127 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) Sojasun
128 Davide Malacarne (Ita) Team Europcar
129 Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Movistar Team
130 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
131 Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Belisol
132 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol
133 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha
134 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha
135 Andreas Klöden (Ger) RadioShack Leopard
136 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano
137 Rudy Molard (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
138 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
139 Jerome Coppel (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
140 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
141 Brice Feillu (Fra) Sojasun
142 Thomas Danielson (USA) Garmin-Sharp
143 Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
144 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ.fr
145 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
146 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol
147 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team
148 Fredrik Carl Wilhelm Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team
149 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
150 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Sojasun
151 Jean-Marc Marino (Fra) Sojasun
152 Kévin Reza (Fra) Team Europcar
153 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
154 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
155 Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:04:52
156 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ.fr
157 Svein Tuft (Can) Orica-GreenEdge 0:07:23
158 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:07:43
159 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
160 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:08:57
161 Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Movistar Team
162 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:10:08
163 Albert Timmer (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano