Tour de France: Cavendish gets his first in Fougères

After what has seemed liked an interminable wait, Mark Cavendish’s Tour de France victories tally ticked over from 25 to 26 on the bunch sprint on stage 7. The Etixx-Quickstep rider scored his team's third win of the Tour, beating green jersey holder Andre Greipel to the line with Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) in third.

Chris Froome (Sky) regained the maillot jaune after the abandon of Tony Martin following the crash on stage 6. Sagan moved into second overall with the time bonus for third, now 11 seconds shy of leading the race. Tejay van Garderen (BMC) is third at 13 seconds.

Following disappointments in the sprints on stages 2 and 5, both won by André Greipel, Cavendish surged past the German on the inside at the end of the flat stage from Livarot to Fougères.

The Manxman’s last Tour win, indeed his last Grand Tour win, came almost two years ago. After a stage 1 crash denied him the chance to add to his tally last year, this will feel all the more cathartic. It sees him two shy of Bernauld Hinault in the all-time Tour stage win statistics, with Eddy Merckx still way ahead on 34.

“I wanted it. I had a feeling about the sprint when I was lying in my room with my wife and daughter. I just had this feeling. I was relaxed and knew that I would be okay,” Cavendish said.

The team has had a topsy-turvy Tour so far, with Tony Martin soloing to the win on stage 4, but then crashing and fracturing his collarbone in the finale of yesterday's stage behind teammate Zdenek Stybar's stage victory. Martin watched the stage on television after having surgery and Cavendish dedicated the win to his German teammate.

“The team was motivated, I could see that with the way Golas was pulling all day. We had some near misses but they kept their faith in me. This is incredible after Stybi’s win and Tony’s loss. To come out to do it like we did and to win is amazing. This is for Tony, too."

The uphill finish hardly slowed down the furious bunch gallop, with Alexander Kristoff hitting out first. But the jump was far too early and patience was key to Cavendish's victory.

“I actually had to back off. I was waiting but everyone had tired legs," Cavendish said. "I told Mark (Renshaw) I wanted to wait. I manoeuvred onto Kristoff’s wheel but then Andre came up alongside me. We passed Kristoff and I just got through. It was shoulder to shoulder with Sagan but I wanted it so bad. I’m so happy.

It was as quiet of a day as we’re likely to see on this year’s Tour de France. There was not a coastal road, cobble or climb - save a fourth-category pimple just after the start - and the riders were understandably happy to catch their breath after what has been a chaotic start to the Tour.

The stage wasn’t entirely crash-free – Alberto Contador and Robert Gesink went down lightly before kilometre zero – but was largely uneventful as we awaited the inevitable bunch sprint.

Daniel Teklehaimanot (MTN-Qhubeka) got himself in the break to consolidate his polka dot jersey lead but the day was more about the fight for the green jersey. And it proved to be keenly contested, with Degenkolb taking the intermediate points ahead of several interested parties.

One of those was Sagan, whose third place today is his fifth top-three finish out of seven stages in this year’s Tour. He’s the closest man to Greipel in the points classification and near misses have been an effective method for him in winning that jersey in the past.

With the race soon heading into the Pyrenees and Alps, it is conceivable that we have seen the last bunch sprint before the final day in Paris. The next days hold the finish on the Mur de Bretagne, where a few seconds could separate the overall contenders, and the more crucial team time trial, where Froome is aiming to cement his lead with his strong Sky squad.

"We are not looking at it as if we have to hold yellow, I’m gauging myself against the other GC contenders and not losing precious time over them," Froome said. "It’s about staying at the front, out of trouble. I have the team to do it, they guys have been fantastic all week and got me into the position I am in today."

Photo: TDW Sport/Tim De Waele

How it unfolded

186 riders took to the start in Livarot, with Tony Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) and Greg Henderson (Lotto-Soudal) the overnight withdrawals, through collarbone and rib fractures respectively.

It wasn’t long before a breakaway formed and it was no surprise to see Teklehaimanot in the move, keen to pad his lead in the KOM classification over Katusha's Joaquim Rodriguez on the early fourth-category climb of the Côte de Canapville. It was no surprise either, to see him joined by two riders from Bretagne-Séché Environnement – Anthony Delaplace and Brice Feillu – with the race set to finish in the region of Brittany. Kristjian Durasek (Lampre-Merida) and Luis Angel Maté (Cofidis) were also along for company and the group built a lead of over two minutes, which wouldn’t fluctuate much all day.

Maté took the maximum points at the intermediate sprint at Argentan at kilometer 65, but it was Degenkolb who emerged on top in the fiercely contested effort among the sprinters behind. Greipel was second and Sagan third, but Cavendish was ruled out by having to swerve around Degenkolb’s fading lead-out man.

The afternoon proceeded to pass by lazily in the sunshine without much incident and with Lotto-Soudal and Etixx-QuickStep largely controlling on the front. Teklehaimanot sat up with 30km to go and the remaining escapees, after a battle for the combativity award, were caught with 11km to go.

The general classification teams then tried to stay up near the front while the sprint trains got themselves organised. Giant led into the final 3km while Etixx sat on, and then FDJ led after a tricky roundabout. Once again it was Katusha who wound things up early but whereas Cavendish was the one to go too early on stages 2 and 5, this time he came from behind Greipel and scorched past him on the inside for a fine and exhilarating win.

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