"Bring on London" screams Cav (I reckon) as he blitzes his opponents. Photograph: AFP Photo
It was a statement of intent to anyone thinking of taking on and beating Mark Cavendish on Sunday's run up the Champs-Élysées, and to anyone who thinks they can beat him on July 28, at the Olympic road race which will finish on The Mall in London. It was one of the biggest winning margins in a sprint finish that we have seen for a long time as Cavendish broke from the pack, surged past a late break effort of Nicolas Roche and Luis Leon Sanchez as if they were standing still, and powered over the line a good five yards ahead of the rest. That the others got the same finishing time of him is probably a little inaccurate by the race organisors.
I should probably apologize to Cavendish for doubting him on here in my stage preview. I felt that the small climbs near the end of the stage might hurt a pure sprinter after days of hard climbing in the Pyranees. I felt it would either allow a break to go clear or wash away the pure sprinters leaving a guy like Peter Sagan to take another victory. But, as he will have to do in London at the Olympics, Cavendish got himself over the small climb not far from the finish and into perfect position to bring in any attacks.
Roche and Sanchez threw a last roll of the dice to try grab some glory and it forced Cavendish to sprint early, but it was never in doubt. It was his second stage win in this years Tour ... a dip given his usual average, but respectable giving the few opportunities the sprinters had this year with a route that had fewer high mountain stages but more stages with climbing in them and a handful with short sharp uphill finishes. On Sunday, Cavendish will have a big chance to still walk away with three stage wins which will be as much as anyone else at this Tour.
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FAKE TWEET OF THE DAY
@MarkCavendish Think I can win by more on The Mall in eight days?
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ABANDONMENT'S
None and there was never going to be any this close to Paris baring a very unlucky crash.
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STAGE 18 RESULT
1. Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Sky in 4-54-12
2. Matt Goss (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
3. Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale
4. Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Rabobank
5. Nicolas Roche (Irl) Ag2r-La Mondiale
6. Tyler Farrar (Usa) Garmiin-Sharp
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 18
1. Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Team Sky in 83-22-18
2. Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky at 2-05
3. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale at 2-41
4. Jurgen Van den Broeck (Bel) Lotto-Belisol at 5-53
5. Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing at 8-30
6. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing at 9-57
