Cav takes down Veelers in crash that overshadows Kittel's brilliant win

It was only a matter of time before someone hit the deck in the final few hundred metres of the dash for the line. Unfortunately it happened to be Tom Veelers, but given the way all the sprint teams have been lining up for the dash to the line in this tour, I wasn't shocked. Still, it didn't take long for those of us on the moral high ground of our arm chairs to wade into social media with fingers of blame pointing in all directions. Was it Mark Cavendish's fault, or did Veelers move off his line? It certainly took the attention away from a fantastic second stage win for Marcel Kittel, but if you ask me, the blame for the accident lies with neither man.

What did shock me about the crash was that only one man went down. It was an amazing escape and I was delighted he wasn't hurt, but this has been coming. Going into the final few kilometres of these flat stages we're no longer seeing one lead out train control the front of the pack, but rather three and four of them. Cavendish has one with his Omega Pharma Quickstep team, Kittel has one with his Argos Shimano team, Andre Greipel has what seems like the best one thus far with the Lotto-Belisol team, and even Peter Sagan's Cannondale boys are getting in the mix.

The upshot of everyone wanting to control the front is lines of teams across the road and it's causing chaos.



At first sight the crash looks as though Cavendish swipes across Veelers taking him down leaving many wondering whether he done it on purpose out of frustration. Such thoughts are madness. Nobody is going to try take down an opponent at 50 miles per hour on purpose and risk taking themselves down in the process. That isn't to say leaning in and contact doesn't happen, but not as a means to put your opponent on his back on the street.

Still, it was clear from the overhead shot that Veelers left his line when he had finished hie leadout job for Kittel and veered right. Cavendish who was coming around that side of Veelers and clearly realising the stage was vanishing before his eyes up the left side, paniced and tried to jump across. With Veelers drifting slightly to the right and Cavendish going for a gap that a fraction of a second before existed, there was contact and Veelers came off worst. Incidental contact, an accident and backed up by the race referees who decided to punish neither cyclist.

It was telling after the stage that Veelers own team mate and stage winner, Kittel didn't point the finger of blame at Cavendish. "It just happens. I saw the video of the crash, it was very unlucky that they bumped. ". Indeed, a number of riders were quick to dismiss blame. I can't imagine that it was on purpose. It was the last moment of the sprint and sometimes that's something that just happens.The finger pointing was left exclusively to bunch sprint experts on social media.

In this case, I don't think either man intentionally tried to harm the other. Veelers didn't move right on purpose, neither did Cavendish lead in intentionally, but rather as a defense mechanism. That's standard practice if you're a sprinter in the final few hundred meters and someone starts to drift towards you. It happens every sprint, you lean back, you defend your position. If you do drift off your line and someone bumps you and you end up on the ground, then that's just part and partial of the risks of racing at the sharp end up a bunch sprint.

Nobody wants to see anyone getting hurt, but sprinting is a risky business, accidents happen, and it's why the general classification favorites stay well clear of it.

So the blame if any lies firmly at the door of the sprint teams in general and these multiple leadout trains. But you can't do much about that. You can't tell them that only one team leads out because that puts the rest at a disadvantage. The likes of Kittel and Greipel have seen how successful Cavendish has been down the years with a sprint train and want to replicate it. And who can blame them ... it's worked well for Greipel in recent seasons and his team appear more polished right now than any other.

He should have won the stage but the change in surface to what looked like cobbles in the final 50 metres threw him off, it slowed him slightly and allowed Kittel -- who said after the stage that he knew of the cobbles as opposed to Greipel who claims he did not -- past for the win.

Cavendish finished third but sat up and looked behind him after the collision with Veelers, clearly concerned about what happened. He apologised and wished Veelers well after but defending his position that he wasn't to blame. Reports later said that Cavendish said sorry to Veelers on a phone call.

For Cavendish it's been a disappointing tour with regards to the sprints. There's been four stages that have ended in bunch gallops and he's only managed the one victory which is low by his standards. By my reckoning he still has four more chances to improve on those numbers so plenty of time, but make no mistake about it, the other leadout trains have clearly disrupted his progress and that of his new teams train. They still look a touch rusty though not all the blame should fall on them. Yesterday, Cavendish's final man in the train, Gert Steegmans, flew from a long way back up the left side of the road in a move that would have delivered Cavendish into the second spot in the line, but Cavendish let Steegmans's wheel go. Steegmans moved to the front while Cavendish moved onto the wheel of Kittel in forth spot. In the end it cost Cavendish as he couldn't react in time to Greipel and then Kittel once they jumped.

Eventful stuff and dramatic and no doubt not the last time we're going to see some mayhem in the final kilometres. Let's hope everyone stays upright, but I fear I'm asking too much for that to happen the way things have been going.