HTC-Highroad sprinter takes 19th career Tour de France stage win
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Mark Cavendish finishes off his team's work with a win in Montpellier.(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Mark Cavendish has his eye on the prize: the green jersey in Paris.(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Despite picking up his fourth stage of this year's Tour de France, Mark Cavendish has played down talk of the green jersey competition being in the bag. The HTC sprinter took his tally to 19 stage wins in the Tour in Montpellier, and now holds a 37 point lead over Jose Rojas and 71 points over Philippe Gilbert. Although there are intermediate points in each remaining stage, Cavendish has the Champs Elysees to look forward to - a stage in which he has triumphed for the last two years.
While Cavendish refused to get carried away about the possibility of being the first rider from Great Britain to win green, he waxed lyrical over the work his HTC teammates put in as they delivered him perfectly to the line. If Cavendish needed any extra advantage over both Rojas and Gilbert it's his lead out, and today in Montpellier they were as good as they've ever been.
The American squad chased down the day's break as efficiently as ever, but their mettle was tested in the closing kilometers as Sky and Garmin battled for supremacy.
"I cross the finish line first as I have done 19 times, but there's only one person who can do that. Today two of my teammates rode for 190 of those kilometers and the rest delivered me to the line. I have an incredible bunch of guys. The commitment of those guys is amazing. I'm incredibly lucky.
"I hate losing when guys have ridden out of their skin for me, and the guys do that."
HTC's focus has shifted slightly since the race left the Pyrenees. Tony Martin has slipped out of contention in GC, while Peter Velits is digging in but suffering the effects of a crash on the stage to Luz-Ardiden. It means that Cavendish's hunt for the green jersey is now their only chance of standing on the podium in Paris, and while the team would have worked for him regardless, they'll put even more focus into the pursuit of green.
"Nothing's guaranteed. Two years ago I though I had the green jersey but then Thor went on the attack in the mountains. Last year I was out of it and then I ended up losing by 10 points.
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"Gilbert is an incredibly talented rider and Rojas is a much better climber than me. There are maybe some sprints that he can get in the mountains which I can't."
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Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
