Tag Archives: Jérémy Roy

Tour de France 2011 – Stage 15

Posted on by
3

Cometh the sprint, cometh the Cav. I know this sounds cheeky, but what can I say after the Manxman sprinted to his 19th career victory, making it his fourth successive tour where he has won four or more stages. It almost looks all too easy, though Cav has his HTC Express to thank for that.

That steamroller consisting of Berhard Eisel, Tony Martin and Mark Renshaw hardly ever fails to deliver. Working like a well oiled machine at the head of the peloton, they provide the perfect platform for their sprinter to take off from, whenever the stage calls for it.

The fact is not lost out on Cavendish as he said yesterday, ”I crossed the finish line first, and I’ve done that 19 times now, but that’s because there’s only one person who can cross the finish line first. I did 200 metres today in a 200‑kilometre stage. Two of my team‑mates rode for 190 of those kilometres and the rest took over and delivered me to the line. So although it’s my name on the list, it’s for the team.”

Such is his domination that excellent competitors like Farrar, Petacchi and Greipel have to satisfy themselves with the lower podium places, or if luck may have it, a stage win where the Brit may have faltered for some reason. But on Saturday’s stage 14 Cavendish came within a minute of the cut-off for finishing the stage and escaped disqualification just in the nick of time.

Behind him though nothing else changed on Le Tour. Thomas Voeckler continues to stay in yellow, leading from Frank Schleck and Cadel Evans and none of the other jerseys changed shoulders either. The stage itself did not permit for any such shifts as there was a sole category-four climb, not the kind then where any leaders could attack or lose time.

It was a sort of mini rest day for the riders who ambled across the 192.5kms keeping safe from damaging crosswinds and general fatigue. The relative comfort of yesterday is also clear from the fact that it was the first stage since day 3 when there were no withdrawals/disqualifications in the Tour. The peloton finished the day same 170 men strong that had started it (FDJ rider William Bonnet had missed the cut-off time on Saturday).

For the record within 3km of the start a breakaway of five had formed consisting of Niki Terpstra (Quick Step), Mickael Delage (FDJ), Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis), Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha) and Anthony Delaplace (Saur-Sojasun). Niki Terpstra from Quick Step was the most resilient of all, holding on to a solo lead till the last 2km. But the victory he hoped for was never happening on a stage like this where the sprint teams will sweep past any breakaway in a swoosh.

Still the Dutchman’s efforts were not completely in vain, as he won the award for most aggressive rider of the day, pocketing a cool € 2,000. It might sound scant reward for four hours of rigorous work, but the red bib he gets to wear on the next stage is a respect in itself (and then are the related benefits for the team and their sponsors) .

In the lack of any major action/controversies, the French media have been speculating the possibilities of Voeckler to continue his show of defiance and carry the maillot jaune till Paris. One can understand their eagerness as not since the legendary Bernard Hinault won his fifth title in 1985, have the French had the opportunity to boast of a home winner of the Tour.

But Voeckler is being cautious of his chances. He replied to these views with a smile yesterday, “I have a scoop for you, I’m not able to win the Tour de France.” And when reminded of his heroics in the Pyrenees, he laughed, “Yes but there are higher mountains yet to come…”

Tomorrow begins the final and most crucial week. As we head into the Alps facing famous climbs such as the Galibier (twice) and Alpe d’Huez, much can happen. Even without these tall hurdles, there is the nerves of the Individual Time Trial, the chances of further crashes and lastly – but hopefully not – panic induced ‘chaingate’ episode like last year.

Stage 16 is a mild teaser of what is to come in the week. Its short at 163.5km and has a single category-four climb in the last 50km, but crucially it keeps climbing all the way from the start. Not a leg breaker, but with the tension of the last week, it will once again offer opportunity for a breakaway to succeed. The top men will not compete on these slopes, their talent calls for the mythical Cols, but a strong rider, probably from a team which has yet to prove its mettle might go for the win.

Even though there is no reshuffle on the cards, the stage should still be engrossing as the second rest day always plays tricks with a few riders. Personally I have an inkling (and am also praying) that finally one of the French riders will claim this stage. Many have tried – Roy, Casar and Voeckler himself – but failed. If Roy can go ahead and finish it this time, it will be justice done in a way, awarding an extremely spirited rider and the country that gives us this marvellous spectacle. So till tomorrow then…

 Jersey holders:                                                      General Classification:               Maillot Jaune –  Thomas Voeckler                                     Thomas Voeckler – 65h 24’ 34”      Maillot Vert –  Mark Cavendish                                          Frank Schleck – 65h 26’ 23”      Maillot à Pois Rouges –  Jelle Vanendert                          Cadel Evans – 65h 26’ 40”              Maillot Blanc –  Rigoberto Uran

About these ads

Tour de France 2011 – Stage 14

Posted on by
Reply

“Prepared to wound, but afraid to strike” – perfect metaphor for the mind games played by the top GC contenders on the climb of Plateau de Beille. Well in fairness, Andy Schleck did try four times to break free of the clique, however none of his attempts carried the venom to drop anyone. And when young Jelle Vanendert burst ahead with just under 7km to go, and comfortably claim his maiden stage, it was evident the best were not trying their best.

“On the last climb I saw that Andy was watching Contador a little bit and Contador was watching Frank. I thought that Contador could just answer the attacks of the Schlecks; Evans and Basso are also there for the general classification and it was only me who was not going for the classification so I thought that I could go and try to get an advantage,” said the Belgian later.

Until Saturday, all four past winners here had went on to claim the Tour in Paris. Vanendert surely does not have the capability to maintain that tradition (not since Laurent Fignon in 1983 has anyone won the Tour on his début), but no one can blame him for taking advantage of the mind-games and earn himself a stage victory he had narrowly missed on the summit of Luz-Ardiden. Incidentally he beat Sammy Sanchez to the line, reversing the result of two days ago.

Much was expected of this stage with the clichés like ‘separating the wheat from the chaff’ being used galore. It did begin to shape out well with Leopard Trek yet again trying to break most teams with their vicious pace at the head of the peloton. Their exertions had the desired effect and by the time the last rider of the Luxembourg team had sacrificed himself, the leading pack was down to just twelve men – the Schlecks, Voeckler, Contador, Evans, Jelle Vanendert, Ivan Basso, Jean-Christophe Peraud, Rigoerto Uran, Damiano Cunego and Pierre Rolland.

Soon Andy attacked, and again, and again, and again, but every time to his frustration either Voeckler or Contador jumped up to his wheel almost immediately. By the end both Schleck brothers were quite unhappy with Cadel Evans for his lack of effort in trying to break the defending champion and the maillot jaune, and themselves made no efforts to cover either Vanendert or Sanchez when they broke free.

Andy did vent his frustration right before the end as he sprinted ahead to finish seconds ahead of everyone, gaining more a moral victory than any significant time advantage. As he pumped ahead in the last kilometer, it seemed too little, too late – a scant gain of two seconds should not matter in the final time sheet in Paris, but it can’t hurt his chances and we all know stranger things have happened on the Tour (LeMond pipping Fignon by a mere eight seconds in 1989 comes to mind).

Evans later justified the lack of attacks by him, “It’s under control. Everyone says that no one attacks and so on… but they also need to consider the wind and the closeness of the racing. The Schleck brothers were there and they’ve got the yellow jersey to gain and then they look at me to pull for them. I joke with them, ‘I’m not here to tow you to Paris.’”

But one has to doff his hat to Thomas Voeckler, who fought like a man possessed to keep in touch with the scorching pace being set by these top riders. He was to be the night-watchman (to borrow the phrase from cricket) of the yellow jersey, but not for a moment looked in trouble yesterday (and stands not-out at stumps). Infact to be fair it was mostly him that replied to Schleck Jr’s attacks and rode close to the head of the élite pack all the time.

“I would lie if I said that I expected to keep the jersey but I was more optimistic than I was two days before the Luz Ardiden stage. On the last climb today, I was really surprise [sic] that I was with all the favorites at the end and it was very hard for me but I understand that it was the same for them. I tried to give my all and it was okay,” said the Frenchman who is winning more friends in his home nation than ever before.

There was a bit of humour on the stage as Jens voigt – then part of the chasing pack – failed to take a corner and bounced off the ledge into shrubs. It was a soft fall and the rider was able to continue almost immediately, only to lose his rear wheel almost moments later. Worse than the earlier tumble (though nothing serious) the German seemed completely disgusted, though had no one to blame for it.

He had to forget the chase and fell back to his team for guiding the Schlecks up the final climb of the day. Up in the front was a lone Frenchman again, Sandy Casar, and with the passive infighting between the GC men, it seemed for a brief moment that he might provide the home crowd their first victory in this year’s tour (something team-mate Jeremy Roy so painfully missed out on yesterday).

Sadly history repeated itself and all his bravery came to no avail once Vanendert sprung late on the stage to claim final honours. Another young rider, Colombian Rigoberto Uran of team Sky managed to finish with the Evans group and took over the lead in the white jersey classification, bringing some joy to the British team who have only had bad news in the past week, both on and off the road.

The biggest winner on the day has to be Thomas Voeckler, who – like in 2004 – against all odds has managed to frustrate and surprise everyone by hanging on to yellow. He will stay in the overall lead till atleast stage 17 when the Tour hits the Alps for good. But if he can keep his form and the GC battle continues to be as passive as it is (hope not), he might be within fighting distance even in the individual time trial (not his specialty, but then neither was climbing).

Today’s stage 15 has a completely different profile where his – and the peloton’s – main rival will be the searing heat and crosswinds. Its pretty flat except for a solo catergory-four climb and more of a transition stage as the Tour heads on to the Alps from the Pyrenees. GC contenders will once again ride in the shadow of their teams, only aiming to reach the finish and look forward to a rest day on Monday. This is also the penultimate opportunity for the sprinters to earn some glory, so be prepared for another Cavendish-Greipel-Farrar photo finish. So till tomorrow then…

Jersey holders:                                                      General Classification:            Maillot Jaune –  Thomas Voeckler                                     Thomas Voeckler – 61h 04’ 10”   Maillot Vert –  Mark Cavendish                                          Frank Schleck – 61h 05’ 59”     Maillot à Pois Rouges –  Jelle Vanendert                          Cadel Evans – 61h 06’ 16”             Maillot Blanc –  Rigoberto Uran

ps: No it’s not a pic out of LOTR or any horror flick, it’s Laurens Ten Dam who hit an obstacle and flew over his hand-bars yesterday. No major damage was reported, but this is how he looked as he continued to finish comfortably!!!

Tour de France 2011 – Stage 13

Posted on by
1

They don’t call him “god of thunder” for nothing. And thunder struck poor Jérémy Roy, pouring cold water over his – and all French – hopes of a stage victory. Thor Hushovd pulled in a gap of over 90 seconds on the descent after the Col d’Aubisque, treating us with one of the most captivating finish (to an otherwise mundane stage) in recent times.

The Norwegian attacked on the Hors catégorie climb – an unexpected move for any sprinter – and managed to survive till the summit in third place. From thereon it was all downhill and flats (except a slight climb of the Col du Soulor) guiding him towards the stage victory he had targeted since the beginning of the Tour.

“I said throughout the first week that although I had the yellow jersey, I wanted to win a stage while wearing the rainbow jersey. Now that’s happened. Now I’m content,” said the Garmin-Cervelo man. His ninth victory in the Tour de France added a mountain stage to the already existing time trial, sprint wins, escape victories and the pave stage of last year. That is an envious record in itself, even without considering his current (road race) world championship honour.

His chase on those final kilometers would go down in the annals of sport as one of the most thrilling. It will not have an impact at the top end of the general classification, but as far as nail-biting moments go, its right up there with the best attacks. It was a roller coaster ride as Hushovd’s chase seemed to have faltered in the final 15km and Roy managed to keep the gap steady at round 15 seconds, but the big man was only biding his time.

Despite getting no help from David Moncoutie (who probably did not want to become the villain in his nation, helping the Norwegian spoil a French victory), Thor kept pumping solo and made his move with 3km to go. Jumping on the pedals he left Moncoutie for dead and within 800m was up on Roy’s wheel. There was no catching him from there, and even if Roy had not been as exhausted as he was, the Frenchman would never have matched Hushovd in the final sprint.

But one has to feel for the FDJ rider who attacked for the second day in succession. Roy was part of the first breakaway this year and has also led the climb over almost all major summits in this edition. He won the polka dot jersey and most aggressive rider’s award yesterday, but that was scant consolation for losing out on a stage victory.

His pain (both emotional and physical) was clear as he crossed the line in third place, almost apologetic to the vociferous local supporters who were anticipating the first home victory this year. As he tapped his heart with a dejected expression, one wished that the sport could allow for two victors on such days.

“The disappointment is too great. I’ll find it difficult to digest. It doesn’t matter if you win by a little or a lot because it’s only the win that counts. I did not really care about the polka-dot jersey when I went in the break, I wanted the stage win. I know I’m not a great champion and I have to do what I can with my ability, so I try and it still failed.” Despite these comments, he has earned a lot of respect in the past couple of weeks, and along with Philippe Gilbert has been one of the revelations of this year.

Not much else happened on a stage where the top contenders were mostly recuperating from stage 12 and preparing themselves for the rigours of stage 14 today. Attacks were not expected from any team and as things went to plan, Thomas Voeckler managed to stay in yellow for the fourth day running.

There were a few withdrawals, the most high-profile being Andréas Klöden, who dropped out after 30km, unable to continue due to the damage sustained in multiple crashes in the previous days. Also dropping out were Geert Steegmans, Denis Galimzyanov, Vladimir Isaichev,and Lars Boom, leaving the tour with 171 survivours.

The intermediate sprint saw green jersey holder Mark Cavendish caught unawares and pipped to the line by Jose Rojas. The Manxman was not impressed and gesticulated at the Movistar rider to display his frustration of having lost a point to his nearest rival.

There was no further action till the sluggish peloton pedalled over the Aubisque, though on the descent Philippe Gilbert launched yet another attack. Catching the leaders was not a possibility, but the Belgian aimed to collect a few extra points for the green jersey classification. He made it home in tenth place inching closer to Cavendish, and going by the omens, its highly likely we will see the fight for the green jersey right till the final sprint stage in Paris.

But the sprinter everyone is talking of right now is the two-time winner of the maillot vert, Thor Hushovd, who finished miles ahead of his corresponding rivals. Even Cavendish himself admired the world champion’s efforts, “Thor is winning some incredible races now. He’s an incredible rider. You could see he was aggressive all day, even at the beginning when the race was full on, he was always in the breaks and then he finally got away and although the climb wasn’t for him – it was going to be hard – but with the shape he’s in it wasn’t going to be too difficult for him.”

Today will not be a day for him, nor Cavendish, and maybe not even for the current maillot jaune. It is the last of the big Pyrenean stages and the ground for the GC battle to resume – with enhanced vigour. There are six tough tests: the Col de Portet-d’Aspet, the Col de la Core, the Col de Latrape, the Col d’Agnes, the Port de Lers and the finish at the Plateau de Beille.

While none of these has the venom of the Tourmalet or the upcoming Galibier, however their cumulative effect will ensure that only the sternest survive. The finish of Plateau de Beille holds a special place, as every rider who has previously won here has gone on to win the Tour that year.

We should witness similar destruction as caused on the Tourmalet by Leopard Trek. But this time the hard work might be done by Saxo bank as Contdaor needs to pull time back soon. It will be a tough day for everyone, particularly for the team of the GC contenders, who will have to sacrifice themselves trying to break the other teams.

Based on current form Cadel Evans and Frank Schleck look the strongest of all, but I would not be surprised if both Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador have kept their cards close to the chest. All I can hope is for history to repeat itself and the man coming out ahead today go on to win the Tour. I say so to prevent the possibility of a repeat of last year, where Contador won overall honours without having a single stage to his name. Most of all I hope that unlike the chess-moves of Thursday, today should be the day of a classic Tour attack. So till tomorrow then…

Jersey holders:                                                      General Classification:

Maillot Jaune –  Thomas Voeckler                                     Thomas Voeckler – 55h 49’ 57”   Maillot Vert –  Mark Cavendish                                          Frank Schleck – 55h 51’ 46”     Maillot à Pois Rouges –  Jérémy Roy                                 Cadel Evans – 55h 52’ 03”             Maillot Blanc –  Arnold Jeannesson

Tour de France 2011 – Stage 12

Posted on by
Reply

Lot was expected from Stage 12 and its two monster climbs, who as always rose to the occasion (pun intended) and helped clear the mist surrounding the GC contenders. By the end of the day Cadel Evans and Schleck Sr came out as the strongest men on the Tour this year, while Andy and Alberto failed to make an impression.

Defending champion Contador in particular looked in trouble and was dropped by the other leaders in the final kilometer of the day. The Spaniard is not used to such reversals on his own ground – the mountains – and is more accustomed to leaving broken riders in his wake. But even as he finished a lowly eighth behind compatriot and stage winner Samuel Sanchez, many around the world will be eager to see if and how he bounces back.

After a long drawn game of cat and mouse the Schleck brothers finally made their attack with 4km left to go on the last climb of the day. In their trademark “one-two” attacks, the duo from Luxembourg tested Contador, Evans, Basso and maillot jaune Voeckler. These short attacks were enough to filter the peloton to just about 15 riders, but fell short of seriously breaking any top contender.

Finally Frank made an attack stick couple of kilometers short of the line and with the GC contenders behind him in no mood to chase, embarked on a solo effort to catch the leading duo of Sanchez and Vanendert. Schleck did come tantalizing close to taking the lead, but the reigning Olympic champion had just enough in him to sprint ahead and take a deserved victory.

Despite all this man of the hour was Thomas Voeckler, who on Fête Nationale brought joy to the locals by fighting hard to keep his leader’s jersey. L’Équipe called him “The Lion” praising him for the pride and spirit shown on a day where no one was particularly confident of him staying in touch with the big names.

Voeckler had team-mate and compatriot Pierre Roland to thank, who stayed with him all the way till the end. Though he did lose a few seconds towards the finish as Evans chased Frank Schleck, but was safe by then to make sure the maillot jaune stayed under French possession on Bastille day. Quatorze Juillet is one of the main holiday in France and ensured there were in excess of a hundred thousand spectators lining the roads of Tourmalet and Luz-Ardiden.

They were treated to some wonderful display of high tempo pedalling and did their best to spur on the beleaguered riders. Its near impossible to find a parallel for spectator interaction in any modern sport compared to a mountain top finish at the Tour de France. BBQ’s and parties on the side of the road, the Gendarmerie trying to control thousands of fans who don’t take them seriously, helicopters buzzing overhead, the roar of the crowd getting louder as the riders approach - it’s all surreal.

Fans have access to run along with their heroes and many times get into their faces – literally. Its also mesmerizing to see in today’s hi-tech world of sport for top professionals to borrow newspapers from road side fans to use as wind protection during the chilly descent of the mountain. I would strongly suggest for anyone reading this to add “attending a mountain stage of Le Tour” on his/her bucket list. Take my word for it, you will fall in love (if still in doubt, see the gallery below).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Sanchez’s move on the day was definitely premeditated; speaking to the official website before the start he declared his intentions to, “follow them [GC contenders] and try to win the stage win, this is the main objective of the team.” Tour newbie Jelle Vanendert of Belgium however did not make it easy for the Euskaltel-Euskadi rider and pushed him right till the end. The reward for the duo’s tenacious performance was the best stage finish of their careers.

There were memorable performances also from Jérémy Roy and Geraint Thomas who were the two riders to scale the Tourmalet before anyone. While Roy won the Prix Jacques Goddet for being the first over the top, Thomas earned himself the award for the most aggressive rider on the day. He later expressed his ignorance about the €5,000 on offer to the first man over Tourmalet, “Five thousand euros? No wonder he [Roy] went for it. You can buy a lot of beer with that.”

The Brit rider from team Sky had his brush with disaster yet again as he slid while taking a tight right hand bend during the first descent seeming to have lost the back wheel. He chose to tumble over the grass rather than drop over the edge and the timely reaction saved him from a lot of pain. He remounted only to hit the grass again a couple of corners later, but such is the perseverance of these riders that he brushed himself up and moved on to lead the next climb.

The peloton behind also struggled on exactly the same corner as Thomas had, and while Voeckler managed to escape with a wobble, Andréas Klöden took a rough fall that pretty much killed any hopes he might have had to attack on the Hors catégorie (HC) climbs.

Team Leopard Trek of the Schleck brothers turned the screws almost from the beginning of the second climb of the day. With their pace bordering on the brutal, riders kept dropping off the main bunch as dead leaves off a tree. The intention was to break as many teams as possible, but in the process the Schlecks lost all of their team except the perennial workhorse Jens Voigt.

If climbing in the Pyrenees is tough physically, the descent is equally taxing on skill. Leading duo of Roy and Thomas were recorded descending at a speed of 97km/h! Maintaining these manic speeds downhill on tricky hair pin infested roads requires immense concentration, bike handling skill and loads of luck. A little flinch, misjudged apex or technical snag could lead to horrifying accidents, but thankfully we saw none of that yesterday.

Despite their heroics both leaders were caught on the last climb and passed by the eventual winners and all GC contenders. The shadow boxing by the top men definitely caused ripples in the standings but could not prompt the tectonic shifts one would have hoped for. Voeckler probably fought the hardest just to stay in touch and that should have taken a lot out of him. Despite his exertions today’s stage should not trouble him enough to lose the leadership of the Tour.

Not that the Col d’Aubisque (today’s only serious climb) is easy, but the finish is some distance from the summit, all 30km of it downhill. Hence we should not see any major attacks, and any rider losing time on the climb will have opportunity to limit his damage on the descent (especially as no GC contender will risk too much going down). It is a relative – repeat relative – break because stage 14 is another sapping day in the mountains. Expect a specialist breakaway to win the stage, similar to what Sanchez did yesterday; someone who is not high in the standings yet has the ability to climb. So till tomorrow then…

ps: for anyone who missed out yesterday, check out the wonderful gallery of Col du Tourmalet over its 101 years of association with the Tour.

Jersey holders:                                                      General Classification:

Maillot Jaune –  Thomas Voeckler                                     Thomas Voeckler – 51h 54’ 44”   Maillot Vert –  Mark Cavendish                                          Frank Schleck – 51h 56’ 33”     Maillot à Pois Rouges –  Samuel Sanchez                         Cadel Evans – 51h 56’ 50”              Maillot Blanc –  Arnold Jeannesson

Tour de France 2011 – Stage 5

Posted on by
2

On a day of attrition Mark Cavendish blitzed to his 16th career stage victory in Le Tour, while the peloton was battered and bruised much beyond the regular. There were a spate of crashes and withdrawals, partly caused by the vicious cross-winds and partly by the tricky route on the day. For a fan like me, it hurts to see all the hard work and endless hours of painful toil go to a waste because of such unfortunate events.

Each day the Tour doctors issue a medical bulletin, which ranges from innocuous items such as stings and saddle sores to the most common on the list – broken bones. But even by these rather unsettling standards, yesterday’s bulletin sounded like a war record. It was only the incredible will of these riders that propelled all but the most severely injured to remount and finish the stage grimacing in pain. The gallery below does not bring out the scintillating beauty on the Tour, but the incredible bravery of each of these men.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Nobody had expected for such carnage and the confidence was there for all to see as the first breakaway tore free as soon as the riders hit the zero kilometer mark at the end of the neutral zone. This time it consisted of Frenchmen Sebastien Turgot (Europcar), Anthony Delaplace (Saur-Sojasun) and Tristan Valentin (Cofidis), plus Spanish rider Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Movistar).

First crash of the day arrived at the 60km mark, involving 12 riders, chief among them being Chavanel (Quickstep), Wiggins (SKY), Ten Dam (Rabobank), and Leipheimer (Radioshack). Hardly had 10km passed, when Radioshack’s Janez Brajkovic touched wheels with Rabobank’s Robert Gessink. This was much more serious and while podium hopeful Gessik remounted and continued in pain, the Slovenian rider was not as lucky.

He suffered deep wounds on his forehead and lay in a daze till professional medical help arrived shortly after. Brajkovic had to ultimately be stretchered into an ambulance, needing further treatment, and his Tour ends in a pool of blood and plenty of road rash. Ahead on the road within a kilometer of this, defending champion Alberto Contador hit the tarmac, falling back first and admitted this would cause him a few troubled nights.

While unfortunate, such events are to be expected in this brutal event, however what happened next shocked everyone. Contador’s teammate Nicki Sorensen got entangled with a passing photographer’s motorbike and was pulled along. The Dane was unceremoniously thrown off his bike and away from the peloton while the motorbike kept dragging his machine. Seorensen was justifiably furious and confused, though managed to continue on a spare bike with no major injuries. Fate of the motorbike rider though, seems to be sealed.

Also around the 90km mark fell Yaroslav Popovych (Radioshack) and Christophe Kern (Europcar), latter’s injured knee ruling him out of any further action in this year’s event. Worse was to come and this time two Quickstep cyclists, Tom Boonen and Gert Steegmans’ wheels touched and both came crashing hard. Boonen – the 2007 maillot vert – seemed to have taken a big knock and lost a huge amount of time recovering. In-keeping with the tenacity of Tour de France riders, the pair – with pale faces - continued all by themselves.

Ahead of all this carnage Jérémy Roy (FDJ) and Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) broke from the peloton with 33km to go. The French duo battled hard and their quixotic venture was highly appreciated by the fans all the way along. Even at this late stage there was no stopping the crashes with Euskaltel’s Ivan Velasco hitting the side barriers hard.

Roy and Voeckler continued to play catch-me-if-you-can with the peloton, and caught they were, with just under 3km to go. Voeckler made a last gasp dash, alas in vain as he was reeled in just after a kilometer. Considering the manic speeds the sprinter’s teams were pulling the peloton with, it was almost surreal to watch a colourful bunch whirr by the narrow lanes of Cap Fréhel.

Toward the end many riders tried their luck, but no one was to deny the Manx missile his much due victory. Cavendish seemed to have lost it as he lay in 10th place with just under 100m to go. But as always the burly HTC-Highroad man turned on the turbos and accelerated with such venom that he left the World champion, the Spanish champion and all the rest stunned in his wake.

This performance seems to have re-validated his “fastest man in the world” tag (all Bolt and Vettel fans we are talking cycling here). But even the never-say-die islander admitted that this was one of his toughest victories. Ceding he was in the red during the slight uphill leading to the finish he said, “I had to give it over 100%. It will take a couple of days to recover from this.”

Everyone please spare a thought for Boonen, Steegmans and Velasco; who despite their terrible falls and searing pain, pulled through sheer willpower to finish within the stipulated time (to avoid disqualification). The way each rider’s team-mate nursed them back – losing time themselves in the process – is a testament to the class of this event and its participants. Bravery, honour, support and above all proud display of the undefiable human spirit.

I know this post was not very uplifting and maybe I overdid with all the gory details of each crash, but I precisely wanted to bring out the immense sacrifice these men make and the risk they take in today’s “health and safety” obsessed world. It is definitely not desirable, but is a manifestation of the Tour’s toughness, where nothing but the very best manage to survive.

Today’s stage 6 hopefully would be benign and is a rolling route as we move from Brittany on to Normandy. It’s the longest stage this year with the riders covering a total of 226.5km in the day. There is a little climb just under 2km from the finish and yet again this can cause the peloton to split up. Philippe Gilbert has another opportunity to double his tally for this year, which he narrowly missed out yesterday and this should again make for a closely fought finish. So till tomorrow then…

Jersey holders:                                                                    General Classification:

Maillot Jaune –  Thor Hushovd                                       Thor Hushovd – 17h 36’ 57”
Maillot Vert –  Philippe Gilbert                                        Cadel Evans – 17h 36’ 58”
Maillot à Pois Rouges –  Cadel Evans                              Frank Schleck – 17h 37’ 01”
Maillot Blanc –  Geraint Thomas

Fun fact: Romain Feillu’s dash in the wake of his team car was judged to be within the rules by the commissars and did not entail any fine for the Frenchman. However his insistence for the car to go faster than the 70kph he was doing (cycling!) landed the driver on the wrong side of the French traffic police. The poor man was fined although I could not confirm the amount.