Repeating his wins of 2007 and 2008, HTC Highroad's Mark Cavendish got his season back on track when he sped to a dominant bunch sprint victory in the 99th edition of the Scheldeprijs, ahead of Denis Galimzyanov (Katusha) and Yauheni Hutarovich (Française des Jeux). Last year's winner Tyler Farrar crashed in the finishing sprint, just like Wouter Weylandt. RadioShack's Robbie McEwen was fifth.
Unlike in 2008, when Cavendish only came around Tom Boonen in the final centimeter of the race, there was no question about his win today. His strong sprint put the others in the defensive and clearly behind Cavendish.
The Belgian classic holds a specific meaning for the Briton. "This win is very important to me, for a number of reasons. This is a very special race, because this is where I obtained my first win as a professional," Cavendish said to Sporza after the race. Cavendish beat McEwen and Gert Steegmans in 2007, in his first year as a professional with the T-Mobile team.
Cavendish continued his success story near Antwerp. "I also won the next year [2008]. I missed it the last two years, so I am happy to be back." He obtained his third win in his third start, giving him a spotless record. He has equaled the record of Peet Oellibrandt, who won in 1960, 1962 and 1963.
The other reason was due to his lackluster year so far. "I'm racing a lot this season, and I've had some bad luck, so it's good I can get the wins in, too. You know I love racing in Belgium," he said with a smile. Cavendish hugged all of his teammates at the finish, appreciating their fair share of the work. "The team did a perfect job, chasing down the break and then getting me to the front as they always do," he said. "[Teammate] Leigh Howard worked very hard in the last few kilometers, then I came past him and went for the win."
Cavendish had to go from a long way out. "When Hutarovich came through I jumped on his wheel." Once he put on the back burner, nobody had a chance and Cavendish won with several bike lengths.
He did escape the big crash in the end, which happened right behind him. But he was focused sprinting and didn't know who went down. Seeing the replay on TV, he showed concern for his rivals. "I hope they are alright."
Weylandt and Farrar were the first to go down. "We were fighting for position when something touched my rear wheel and I fell," Farrar said after the race. He thought his injury were minor, but wanted to check with the doctors first. "I only have a little bit of pain in my ribs." Farrar, who lives in nearby Gent, was sitting in a perfect position. "I rode for the win today. It is a real pity, but you can't do anything."
Boonen also came to fall, but that was in a roundabout, 61 kilometers from the finish. Despite another crash, Boonen went on to finish the race.
Earlier, the quintet of Adriano Malori (Lampre-ISD), Baptiste Planckaert (Landbouwkrediet), Vladimir Isaichev (Katusha), David Boucher (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and Dieter Capelle (Verandas Willems-Accent) slipped away and opened a five-minute lead in the first hour of racing. The advantage had been halved with 60 kilometers to go, and the last of the breakaways - Malori - was gobbled up 22 kilometres from the line. The sprinters' teams then policed things to ensure that a bunch sprint was the end result.