World champion takes his 22nd career Tour stage as the break is caught in the finishing straight
Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) matched the career total of the great André Darrigade as he took his 22nd stage victory in the Tour de France, between Blagnac and Brive-la-Gaillarde, to join the Frenchman as the most successful sprinter in the race’s history. The World champion - whose personal ambitions had taken a back seat in the 2012 Tour de France as his team concentrated on delivering overall victory for Bradley Wiggins - finally had the undivided support of his team in the closing kilometres, as Wiggins himself worked hard on the front to bring back a six-man breakaway group.
It was a close run thing however, as former Irish champion Nicolas Roche (AG2R La Mondiale) was sprinting at the head of the group in front of him with just 200 metres to go. Cavendish used the wheels of the other breakaway riders however, to make his way forward and, once he opened up his devastating sprint, he breezed past the son of the 1987 Tour winner to win by several lengths.
Behind Cavendish, Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) outsprinted green jersey Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) to take second place, with Roche’s breakaway companion Luis León Sánchez (Rabobank) coming past the Irishman on the line to take fourth.
“It's incredible,” said Cavendish afterwards. “I've had a lot of desperation for a sprint as we haven't had a lot for me to do this year. It was always going to be close at the end because there were a few guys still away but the team rode perfectly and Brad timed it so we'd catch them in the last kilometre and then Edvald went and gave me a slingshot and off I went. I had a lot to give.”
Despite starting the Tour in perfect fashion, with a victory stage two - the first sprint stage of the race - Cavendish has had few opportunities to shine since, and has even put in some work as a domestique for Wiggins during a number of stages.
“We came here with the goal of winning the yellow jersey,” the Manxman explained. “We've got first and second on GC; we can't ask for anything more than that. The spirits are high and to be part of the team that is going to win the Tour de France is a massive honour. It put my sprint chances on the back foot but…
“Twenty-two stage wins… has it sunk in? Yeah!” he exclaimed. “Because I've been waiting to do it for nearly three weeks now. I'm now equal with André Darrigade; he won 15 sprints but 22 stages of the Tour de France. So to match him is something; it makes me happy.”
On paper, the 18th stage should have been one for a breakaway to stay away but, with the inevitable group unable to get far ahead, Team Sky had other ideas.
“Even this morning, on the bus, Sean Yates was like, ‘Okay boys, it's an easy day today... let's let the break go'. But I was like, ‘Oh please let me have a chance!'” Cavendish recounted. “Then Brad came up and said, ‘Look, we're going to ride today. We'll make a sprint.' And we saw that.
“He could have easily sat up at the end but Brad and [Chris] Froomey just came up and I'm so grateful for what they did,” he continued. “We had Edvald [Boasson Hagen] in the break then he was leading me out... we've got a great group of guys.
“It's been an emotional three weeks but I've enjoyed every minute of it.”
With Roche and Sánchez in the six-man group were Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol), Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana), Luca Paolini (Katusha) and Andreas Klöden (RadioShack-Nissan). Hansen, Vinokourov and Paolini were the remnants of a 16-man group, which had escaped in the first half of the stage, and who got away from the rest on the Côte de Lissac-sur-Couze with just over ten kilometres to go.
Roche, Sánchez and Klöden attacked over the climb and managed to bridge with five kilometres to go, and were managing to hold a ten second lead over the peloton as the finish line approached. The sprinters’ teams were gradually closing however, and Wiggins himself took control with a kilometre and a half left; he pulled over for Boasson Hagen - who had been in the original break - to finish delivering Cavendish to the line but, as the Norwegian champion pulled over himself, the World champion still had a lot to do.
With the breakaway riders tiring in the final metres however, Cavendish shot past, and crossed the line several lengths clear of the Goss/Sagan battle.
With the majority of the peloton finishing in the same time, Wiggins maintained his overall lead in the general classification, and remains 2’05” ahead of Sky teammate Chris Froome, and 2’41” ahead of Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale).
One final chance for the escape artists and nobody wants to miss out
If stage 17 had been a final chance for the climbers to attack Bradley Wiggins, the 222.5km 18th stage was the last chance for the escape artists to take any glory in the 2012 Tour de France. Heading due north, away from the Pyrénées, the 222.5km course between Blagnac and Brive-la-Gaillarde featured just one 3rd category, and three 4th category climbs as it crossed the rolling departments of Lot and Corrèze; sandwiched between the last mountain stage and the final time trial, the stage was almost perfect for a breakaway.
As expected, the opening kilometres were conducted at a very fast pace, as so many riders tried to get themselves into the inevitable escape. A group of six riders established itself after 21km and, with the best placed rider being Astana’s Dmitriy Fofonov - who was almost two hours behind Wiggins in 64th place - it looked to be acceptable. Too many teams had missed out however, and it was soon chased down.
The first hour of the race was completed at an average of 48.2kph, and it wasn’t until the short, but steep, 3rd category Côte de Saint-Georges after 67.5km, that Nick Nuyens (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) and Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar) got away from a small group. The two of them were joined by Vinokourov, Paolini, Boasson Hagen, Hansen and Lotto-Belisol teammate Jelle Vanendert, Nuyens’ Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank teammate Karsten Kroon, Rui Costa (Movistar), Jérémy Roy (FDJ-BigMat), Yaroslav Popovych (RadioShack-Nissan), stage 12 winner David Millar (Garmin-Sharp), Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge), Kris Boeckmans (Vacansoleil-DCM), Patrick Gretsch (Argos-Shimano) and Julien Fouchard (Cofidis) shortly after the summit.
Costa was just 29’43” behind Wiggins overall but the group was deemed acceptable and, with enough teams represented in the 16 riders - after a brief chase from Saur-Sojasun - the peloton initially sat up. Through the feedzone, in Castelnau-Montratier after 84km, the group’s lead was up to 3’10”; it reached a maximum of 3’30” at the 102km point but began to drop, under the impetus of BMC Racing and AG2R La Mondiale; through the intermediate sprint in Cahors after 115km, and the Côte de Cahors after 117.5km, and it was down to 2’10” shortly after the top.
At the 120km point a dog ran into the peloton, bringing down a number of riders, including Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing), Denis Menchov (Katusha) and Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp). This incident saw the gap to the lead slip out to 2’30” but Omega Pharma-Quick Step and Saur-Sojasun took control of the pace and stopped it from increasing further. Rabobank came forward to help the chase; none of the teams on the front of the peloton had a big sprinter in the race, but were presumably looking to set up a late attack on the final climb of the Côte de Lissac-sur-Couze, which would come with just 10km to go.
Liquigas-Cannondale also began to send men to the front, to chase a fourth stage victory for green jersey Peter Sagan, and with 50km to go the gap was down to 1’40”.
The late climbs arrive and the cooperation begins to splinter
With 43km to go, as the break arrived at the foot of the Côte de Souillac, the attacks began as Millar was the first to make a move. His attack was unsuccessful, and was followed by attempts from Arashiro Boasson Hagen, but the net result was only to drop Boeckmans and Fouchard; with 30km to go, the gap dropped to below a minute.
With 25km to go the gap was just 45 seconds and, just before the 20km to go banner, Hansen attacked the group. He was joined by Roy, with Vinokourov, Paolini and Nuyens managing to rejoin as they hit the bottom of the Côte de Lissac-sur-Couze with just over 12km left.
As the rest of the group was picked by the peloton - and with Albasini and Boasson Hagen having been caught - Team Sky and Orica-GreenEdge had come to the head of the peloton however, and soon picked up Nuyens and Roy. Dries Devenyns (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) attacked from the peloton, but he was passed by Roche and Klöden, who were joined by Sánchez, and the three of them managed to get a small gap.
As Vinokourov led over the top the gap was just ten seconds to the peloton however, with the three counterattackers making their way across the gap. The six riders were together with just over five kilometres to go, as a little rain began to fall, making the roads on the outskirts of Brive a little slippery.
Under the five kilometre banner the sextet’s lead was just seven seconds, but it was out to 12 seconds by the four kilometre banner as Vasil Kiryienka (Movistar) tried to get across with Daniel Oss (Liquigas-Cannondale).
Garmin-Sharp then joined the chase as the race approached the final two kilometres, and the peloton had the breakaway in sight. With the break just a handful of seconds clear, Wiggins himself hit the front, with Boasson Hagen and Cavendish in his wheel.
The group was refusing to give up though, and still led by a few metres as they rounded the final corner with just over 500 metres to go. Boasson Hagen was leading out Cavendish, but Roche was making his bid for the line up ahead of him.
As the Irishman approached the line, Sánchez was beginning to come past, but Cavendish suddenly opened up his sprint and shot past as though they were glued to the tarmac. Goss and Sagan also passed the breakaway riders, as they battled for the line themselves, but Cavendish was already celebrating several lengths ahead.