Cavendish goes long to claim third stage

The battle for green is turning red-hot.

At the start stage of the 10th stage in Limoges, maillot vert Thor Hushovd appeared to be growing in confidence, possibly thinking another green jersey is just around the corner.

But without the dedicated lead-out train that Mark Cavendish commands from his Columbia-HTC posse, Hushovd's job in stage finishes is invariably made more difficult. And when that train combines with the Manxman's unmatched finishing speed as it did Tuesday in Issoudun, Hushovd and Garmin-Slipstream's Tyler Farrar were relegated to their all-too-familiar positions, Cavendish seems to have delivered an unspoken message: The green jersey is not yours. It's mine.

Said Cavendish of the last 500 metres, "There was a slight incline and with the corners, we knew we had to be at the front. George [Hincapie] went and then Mark [Renshaw] went. I was afraid of being jumped, like [Alessandro] Petacchi did [to me] at the Giro. My saying now is, '[If] in doubt, hit out'. I hit out early."

Clearly, Cavendish is coming of age. Previously believed to lack the endurance to contest sprints at the end of long one-day races or three-week tours, his stunning victory in the March classic Milano-Sanremo was the first indication that the 24-year-old had grown stronger. Again at the Centenary Giro d'Italia, he displayed a newfound ability to go long and still go fast, the last of his hat-trick of wins coming at the end of the second week.

And now, coming into the back-half of the 21-stage, 3,459.5-kilometre loop around France, Cavendish, after a brief lull, seems to have kicked again.

Asked if there are less opportunities than previous years, Cavendish said, "I don't think so. I targeted seven days here, maybe eight. That is quite a lot. I was pretty excited when I was at the unveiling of the Tour route this year. It is a tough parcours... This year is good for me and other pure sprinters."

As he pulled the maillot vert across his shoulders, Hushovd - still the points leader but now by a margin of four - appeared decidedly edgy.

It wasn't the natural, emphatic smile of the stage winner we saw in Barcelona five days ago. It was the shaky, forced grin one has to make when standing on the Tour de France podium. And while speaking to French television at the post-stage press conference, the Norwegian watched the replay in front of him with the intensity of an air-traffic controller during a snowstorm: staring intently at the screen, analysing the final 500 metres over and over, asking himself if there was anything - anything at all - he could've done differently. His facial expression said "no". Not a thing.

"He was very, very fast. His team was very, very strong," were Hushovd's first words. What else could he say?

The Cavendish-Hushovd dynamic is not dissimilar to the ding-dong battle between Robbie McEwen and Erik Zabel in the decade past, where between them, nine green jerseys are stacked in their wardrobes.

Like Cavendish, McEwen was faster than Zabel, but like Hushovd, Zabel was slightly stronger (particularly in the mountains), a little cagier and more calculating. Now, with just six points separating the pair and possibly three more stages to come before the next mountain leg to Verbier this Saturday, the Thunder God will need to be as strong, cagey, and calculating as he's ever been.

Mellow day for yellow, but a subtle change to the leaderboard

Maillot jaune Rinaldo Nocentini (AG2R), despite not having the aid of his radio earpiece like the his other 170 colleagues in the peloton, enjoyed a day without incident. So trouble-free, in fact, that the 31-year-old said it was his easiest day in yellow so far. And if things go to plan, the Italian could well have it for another three more.

"It was a good day, a lot calmer than the last two stages," said Nocentini. "It's very emotional and it's a great feeling to have it on my shoulders. There are still two flat stages to come, so that should be okay, but Friday will be a lot tougher. Still, I hope to have the jersey on my shoulders Friday evening."

Astana's Levi Leipheimer and Garmin-Slipstream's Bradley Wiggins weren't as fortunate. They were among a group of 106 riders caught out in the mayhem of the finale and ended up 15 seconds down on the first group of 52. Consequently, it's seen a subtle change in the top 10, Leipheimer and Wiggins dropping to fifth and seventh on the general classification, with Andreas Klöden (Astana) and Tony Martin (Columbia-HTC) now sitting fourth and sixth, respectively.

At the gates of the Limousin countryside

From Limoges, a medium-sized and rather cosmopolitan town in central France boasting 51 square metres of greenery per resident, a peloton of 171 departed at 12.30 p.m. sans earpieces, the first of two stages at the 2009 Tour where radio communication has been done away with (the other being Stage 13).

The 194.5-km rolling profile had bunch sprint finish written all over it, but a breakaway quartet that included three Frenchmen attempted to do their country proud on Bastille Day, Thierry Hupond (Skil-Shimano), Benoit Vaurengard (Francaise des Jeux), Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis) and Mikhail Ignatiev (Katusha) the ones that got away. Following a number of successful escapes in recent days, the peloton was keeping a tight lid on proceedings, although they gave the illusion they weren't riding particularly hard. After 60km, the gap was just two-and-a-half minutes, which also may have had something to do with Ignatiev, the only non-Frenchman in the move doing just two percent of the workload up front.

The overcast conditions experienced at the start continued throughout the afternoon, the break's advantage holding steady after 100km covered, and after three hours, raced at a 37.7 km/h average. However, it was more because of a crash in the bunch than the strength of the lead quartet. Saxo Bank's Kurt Asle Arvesen came off worst, suspected to have a broken left collarbone.

The ol' fashioned chalkboard may have replaced information coming through race radio, but it did nothing for the break's chances. It appeared to be riding under a cloud of impending doom. Naturally, Columbia-HTC, knowing full well they needed to deliver Cavendish another stage victory to stand a chance against current points leader Thor Hushovd, motioned their forces to the fore in the closing kilometres.

And for the third time in 10 days, Cavendish's coterie of Trojan horses timed their chase to perfection, catching Hupond, the last of the escapees, 1.3 kilometres from the line. Hushovd, Oscar Freire and Tom Boonen were expected to thrive on the slightly uphill finish, but in the end, it suited Cav' to a T.

For images of stage 10 click here

* Results revised July 11, 2009 to reverse 15 second split in peloton which affected GC.

Hushovd to play the tactical game

Entering Stage 10 with an 11-point buffer over previous points classification leader Mark Cavendish, Cervelo TestTeam's Thor Hushovd was a picture of calm in Limoges, despite holding a somewhat tenuous lead.

The green jersey champion of 2005 and Tour stage winner in Barcelona told Cyclingnews the next four stages will be critical if he's to consolidate his advantage over the sprinting wunderkind from the Isle of Man. "Oh, they're really important," Hushovd said of the coming days, "so I have to fight to get as many points as possible.

"Of course, I'll play the tactical game. Columbia has to work to get the jersey back, but it depends what happens [during the stage], how many guys go away, and also we [as a team] can't spend too much energy," he said, referring to the team's other objective of helping to defend Carlos Sastre's Tour de France crown, which, as the days go on, appears to be getting more remote.

Tuesday being the first stage without radio communication between rider and director, Hushovd said the absence of an earpiece doesn't really bother him, although he's against the notion of racing ‘old-school'. "It doesn't change too much. I really look towards the finale. It's more during the race, especially when groups go, to see who is up there or not. I think we should have radios, because it's a normal part of the future of cycling. But I also think it's stupid to neutralise the stage."

And while age does not always work to the benefit of a sprinter, the 31-year-old Norweigan - seven years Cavendish's senior and a veteran of as many Tours de France - tends to grow stronger as the race progresses. Remember the Champs-Élysées at the 2006 Tour and Hushovd's dominant victory against Australians Robbie McEwen and Stuart O'Grady, bookending his prologue win in Strasbourg three weeks earlier?

"I didn't go really deep in the Pyrenees, so I think I'm getting better and better, and that's important. What happens with Cavendish, I can do nothing [about], really," he said.

Hushovd's last words proved prophetic. Four-and-three-quarter hours later in Issoudun, the maillot vert didn't stand a chance against the might and power of Cavendish and his Columbia-HTC team.