March 29, 2024

Cycling, Tour de France: Cavendish wins the sprint race in Valence - Tour de France - Cycling

Cycling, Tour de France: Cavendish wins the sprint race in Valence – Tour de France – Cycling

Mark Cavendish rocks the throne of great Eddie Merckx with all his might: The British sprint star also has his third team race of 108. Tour de France He won and is just one victory away from the Belgian cycling icon’s “eternal” stage record. At the stormy end of the 190.7-kilometre tenth stage in parity The man in the green shirt again did not give rival Andre Greibel any chance on Tuesday (July 6, 2021).

Greipel is in seventh place

Belgian Cavendish Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix) relegated their places. Old Gribel (Israel start the nation) ranked seventh as the best German.

Sprint fully prepared

Cavendish has now racked up 33 daily Tour de France victories since 2008 – less than that of Merckx. The youngest owes the excellent preparatory work to the Deceuninck-Quick Step team, which prepared the 36-year-old for the sprint in a perfect way. The fact that competitors such as Belgium’s Tim Merler or France’s Arnaud Demir forcibly ended the race in the Alps also helped the Briton.

‘Almost nothing has been done’

“I didn’t do anything but drive the last few metres”Cavendish said: “That was old school, as you can read in a cycling book. I was pretty confident things were going well, I’m a blessed guy. We have good people on the team.”

Pogacar continues in yellow

For Tadej Pogacar, there was little danger to the overall lead from the largely quiet stage. The Slovenian defending champion rolled over the finish line with the main field in the yellow jersey.

Meanwhile, Merckx quietly follows Cavendish’s triumphant progress. “It doesn’t cost me any sleep. The records are there to break.”It was the last time the 76-year-old Belgian said it. Many of his best marks are out of Cavendish’s reach: “Mark Cavendish will never win the Tour de France five times. He will never compete in yellow for 96 days. What is the most important thing?”

Attempting to escape after take off

Belgians Tosh van der Sande (Loto Soudal) and Hugo Hall of Canada (Astana Premier Tech) started shortly after the start in the Olympic City Albertville their unpromising escape. The duo was left on the “long leash”, and Peloton dominated the lead. The escape was more than 36 kilometers from the destination.

Difficult conditions

After the merger of the field, the stormy weather made dormitory section the last. Dark clouds were gathering in the sky over Valencia, and a strong crosswind made a frantic rush of the class riders and divided the field into several parts. Cavendish was put on top by his team, and Greipel also stayed close to him and waited for another victory in Valencia. After all, that was enough to get him the best position in this round so far. Jonas Koch, who was the second professional German cyclist, is no longer there. According to his team Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert, the 28-year-old has not started due to health issues.

Twice over Mont Ventoux

On Wednesday, one of the four “holy mountains” will return to the itinerary after five years – and how. The 198.9 km 11th stage leads twice above the legendary Mont Ventoux. The target is not on top of the bald giant. After the second ascent, the drivers descend Malocene.

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