HTC-Columbia's Mark Renshaw put in an incredible ride in the Tour de France today to launch teammate Mark Cavendish to a convincing victory in the stage five sprint. The Australian started the day having equaled the team's best finish in the race so far with a second place behind Italian Alessandro Petacchi on the first road stage. Today Cavendish's trusty leadout man used his finishing speed to seal up the team's first victory in this year's Tour following what has been a tough opening week.
The Manxman has suffered a rough and tumble season thus far, which started off with a tooth problem and led into the Tour de France with controversial visits with the tarmac. But he wasn't alone in having a difficult start to the year, as Renshaw also had to deal with adversity in the form of illness. He was forced to sit out the early season after being diagnosed with the Epstein-Barr virus. Originally it was thought he would be back in action in January, then his return was pushed out to March, but it turned out he wasn't able to begin his season unitl the Scheldeprijs in April.
"Very happy for Cav to win the stage today, its been a hard year for both him and myself," Renshaw told VeloNation after the finish. "Today he wanted the victory more than ever, after the ride yesterday I think today I have seen the old Mark cavendish back!"
Renshaw began the day with 30 points towards the green jersey, twice that of his leader Cavendish, who could only manage twelfth place after another solid performance by his team yesterday. At this point in the Tour de France last year he had already taken two stages in dominant fashion, on his way to an incredible six stage victories. Although still formidable, the HTC-Columbia leadout train isn't what it was one year ago. Not so much in horsepower, but in commitment. While the loss of Adam Hansen early on was a huge blow, the fact that the team is looking out for Michael Rogers's chances in the overall has put them at a disadvantage since some of the riders are saving themselves for the mountains.
Despite the lack of results and the inability to dominate the run-in to the line, the American team stayed focused and put in another fine effort on the 187.5 kilometer stage to Montargis. HTC-Columbia took the reins, but were overpowered in the final kilometer by the Garmin-Transitions squad once Bernhard Eisel finished his turn. It was then down to Renshaw to do what he does better than anybody else.
The pair stayed patient as Renshaw protected Cavendish and kept him within striking distance. The Garmin-Transitions team had both Robbie Hunter and Julian Dean in front of their man Tyler Farrar, but once the South African pulled off, Renshaw brilliantly powered foward to give his man a clear shot at the line. The Australian's tactical move forced an injured Farrar to take the long way around Dean on the left side of the road, since the Kiwi couldn't match Renshaw's acceleration.
"He showed he still has the fastest kick and sprint," added Renshaw. "I now believe he can win again here in the Tour de France."
Renshaw's experience handed Cavendish his confidence back and will also have energized the HTC-Columbia team. Now that the Manx Missile is firing again, it will be interesting to see if his recent taste of humble pie will now see shots being fired exclusively from his legs.