Stage 7: Livarot > Fougères, 190.5km
So much for my questioning of Mark Cavendish a few days ago when I asked whether he was on the decline and wondered just what was wrong with him. As is so often the way when you, naturally, begin to question a great athlete during a slump, they step up and silence you. That isn't to say Cavendish was reading this blog, but I certainly wasn't the only one asking questions of him following his two botched sprints from two opportunities in this years Tour.
But cometh the hour and cometh the pressure, cometh the man. It was a fine sprint by Cavendish who took his 26th Tour stage win and now sits just two behind the great Bernard Hinault. After two sprints in which he went far too early it almost looked like he had left it too late and once Greipel kicked it looked as though Cavendish had been boxed in, but he found his way out at the last moment and surged past Greipel to win by half a length with Sagan a quarter of a wheel behind the Green jersey wearing German.
It was one of those old fashioned first week stages of the Tour in which the bunch have a virtual day off on a stage gifted to the sprinters, but we can't really complain as we've only really seen them the last couple of days. The contenders have deserved the little break but a little break it was as this was likely the last sprint stage before Paris. Tomorrow there is a short but steep little finish and on Sunday it's the team-time-trial before a rest day / travel day down to the Pyrenees.
The overall changed only in that Froome ascended into Yellow in place of Tony Martin who didn't take the start and Sagan leapfrogging Tejay Van Garderen thanks to time bonuses. As expected Froome didn't start to the day in Yellow out of respect to Martin, much in the mould of Greg LeMond back in 1991 when he refused to pull it on after Rolf Sorensen had crashed out. He will wear it tomorrow however and he'll hope to have better luck than Cancellara and Martin.
Sagan though will be looking to take it off of him. Time bonuses have put him within 11 seconds of Froome and tomorrow's stage with its final climb to of the Mûr-de-Bretagne presents an opportunity. It isn't as steep as the Mur de Huy which should suit him, but it is longer and that might just play out of his hands, but with Yellow as a carrot at the top, you wouldn't write him off entirely. Still, Froome will be highly motivated himself as he looks to further his advantage over his rivals. Cadel Evans won the last time they came up here and he went on to win the Tour, so there's something in this climb that perhaps proves a point.
But don't assume it'll all arrive at the foot of the climb together. I wouldn't rule out the possibility of a break going away early and staying away. That wouldn't get in the way of Froome's ambitions on the climb, only Sagan's, and there will be a lot in the peloton unwilling to chase down a break given that the next day is a crucial team-time-trial.
The possibilities are thrilling and whatever happens it should make for a fascinating stage.
| Result: | Classement: |
| 1. Cavendish (EQS) in 4h27'25" 2. Greipel (LTS) 3. Sagan (TCS) 4. Degenklob (TGA) 5. Kristoff (KAT) 6. Demare (FDJ) all s.t. | 1. Froome (SKY) in 26h40'51" 2. Sagan (TCS) +11" 3. Van Garderen (BMC) +13" 4. Gallopin (LTS) +26" 5. Van Avermaet (BMC) +28" 6. Uran (EQS) +34" |
