Team Astana and Mark Cavendish went to this year’s Tour with a clear goal. They called him mission 35. He entered this year with 34 stage victories, sharing first place in this ranking with Eddy Merckx.
Mission 35 – a difficult task for Cavendish
Mark Cavendish and his team called this year’s Tour mission 35, as his best sprinter years are long behind him and the years when he managed to win 5 stages on one Tour are gone. In addition, he was happy regarding his last stage victory three years ago. And once morest young wolves like Gaviria, Pedersen and Philipsen, the critics didn’t have much faith in him.
He had his first chance to set a record in the third stage, but he didn’t reach the finish line due to a car accident. But Mark hoped that he still had it in him and that everything would come together and teach his young followers one more lesson.
Moreover, he knew very well that he had to succeed in the first week before the Tour reached the Pyrenees. He always suffered there, and in the final week he would not have so much strength. This year’s Tour is undoubtedly his last, and following serious injuries from the last few seasons, he had the last chance to get ahead of Eddy Merckx.
In the fifth stage, everything came together and Cavendish has a record triumph
After yesterday’s very demanding stage, which ended with a hellish climb to the Galibier and ended with a long descent, today’s stage was once more tailored for the mass finish. Not much happened in today’s stage, during the entire stage the riders mostly rested and it was not a hellish pace.
The Astana team controlled the front of the peloton regarding 30 kilometers before the finish line and everything was shaping up to be a mass finish for their leader Mark Cavendish. He stumbled slightly just before the goal. However, he expertly managed Philipsen.
And the spurt started first of all the favorites. He thus created a slight lead that even Philipsen did not catch. In addition, Mads Pedersen might not participate in the sprint, as he fell hard on the asphalt. The 35th victory changed the historical annals of the Tour de France.
Cavendish was very close to the record enrollment in the previous year. When in the seventh stage he finished a close second. However, in the next stage he broke his collarbone and it was decided that he was ending his career.
However, he was persuaded by the former great mountaineer Aklexander Vinokurov, who is the boss of Astana, to extend his career with the fact that the team’s strategy will be subordinated to the record entry.
Tour de France – 5th stage (St. Jean de Maurienne – St. Vulbas (177.4 km)
- 1. Mark Cacendish (Brit./Astana) 4:08:46, 2. Jasper Philipsen (Bel./Alpecin), 3. Aklexander Kristoff (Nor./Uno), 4. Arnaud de Lie (Bel./Lotto), 5. Fabio Jakobsen (Netherlands/Dsm) all same time……160. Jan Hirt (ČR/Quick-Step) -1:09
- Running Order
- 1. Tadej Pogačar 23:15:24
- 2. Remco Eveneopel -45
- 3. Jonas Vingegaard -50
- 4. Juan Ayuso -1:10
- 5. Primož Roglič -1:14
- 93. Jan Hirt -58:03
Source: Cycling News, Tour de France
