THE RIDE FOR CAV
Friday 20 July / Blagnac to Brive-la-Gaillarde, 223km
ROUTE/ The second-longest day of the Tour covered relatively flat terrain, but the roads would be damp and slippery for the bunch sprint expected at the end.
THE CHALLENGE/ Wiggins must not risk anything to protect his lead, but he had other ideas …
HOW IT UNFOLDED/ Wiggins stayed safely near the front of the peloton for most of the day as the main bunch chased down a 16-man breakaway that included David Millar and Team Sky’s Edvald Boasson Hagen. Three riders – Alexandre Vinokourov, Adam Hansen and Luca Paolini – remained in front as the riders reached the outskirts of Brive, and were joined by three others – Andreas Klöden, Luis Leon Sanchez and Nicolas Roche – entering the final 5km.
The gap was down to eight seconds with 3km to go when – what was this? – Wiggins hit the front of the peloton with 1km to go and Cavendish on his back wheel. Wiggins was not adhering to the convention that the yellow jersey ensconces himself safely in the peloton at this stage. Instead, he sought to ‘ride for Cav’.
‘We knew it was a hard stage and it would have been easy for the guys to concentrate on Paris,’ said Cavendish, after outsprinting Matt Goss and Peter Sagan to storm to his 22nd Tour de France stage win in Brive-la-Gaillarde. ‘Sean [Yates] said “take it easy, let the break go”, but Brad jumped in immediately and said that we should go for the sprint and he would lead out.’
‘They are a really good group of guys and were there for me at the end,’ conceded Cavendish, who drew level with Lance Armstrong and André Darrigade in all-time wins. ‘They moved me up nice and smoothly. We didn’t want to catch the break too soon and with 600 metres to go I put all my chips on the table. It wasn’t an easy day and I was suffering at times, but I recovered quickly and sprinted with real acceleration. Spirits in the team are really high. It’s not often you can come here to win the yellow jersey at the Tour de France.’
Wiggins said: ‘Mark has waited a long time and been patient and he has got his reward. He has had to put away his goals and make sacrifices on the Tour so far, and that is hard for a world champion. He has always been the first to say that the General Classification is the most important thing and we all wanted to repay him somehow.’
STAGE 18 RESULT:
Winner. Mark Cavendish (GB); Team Sky; 04h 54’ 12”
2. Matt Goss (Aus); Orica GreenEdge; same time
3. Peter Sagan (Svk); Liquigas; same time
OVERALL STANDINGS:
1. Bradley Wiggins (GB); Team Sky; 83h 22’ 18”
2. Chris Froome (GB); Team Sky; +2:05”
3. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita); Liquigas; +2:41”
‘I just knew I was going to go for it. I have done nothing all Tour so I have saved so much energy. I knew I would be able to go from a long way out, and no one would get past me today. I felt really good. It would have been easy for the guys to cruise into Paris and Sean [Yates, Team Sky’s sporting director] was saying “just take it easy” but I was pleading for a chance in the team meeting. But then Brad said “we are going to ride today” and Froomey committed to my cause and I’ll always be grateful for that. We have got a great group of guys. It has been an emotional three weeks but I have enjoyed it.’
Mark Cavendish