Britain's Cavendish bags 16th win

Britain’s Mark Cavendish of HTC-Highroad took a stab at his detractors after claiming his 16th career win in the crash-marred fifth stage of the Tour de France on Wednesday.

Norwegian Thor Hushovd, of the Garmin-Cervelo team, kept the race leader’s yellow jersey after the 164.5km ride from Carhaix to Cap Frehel, which saw several overall contenders hit the tarmac.

Reigning champion Alberto Contador, Britain’s Bradley Wiggins and Dutchman Robert Gesink all survived crashes to go on and continue their bid for overall victory.

Contador, who also crashed on the first stage, when he lost over a minute to key rivals, said he is looking forward to things improving over the coming weeks.

“It was a very tense stage with a lot of crashes,” said the Spaniard, who crashed alongside Katusha team rider Vladimir Gusev after the halfway point, picking up a shoulder knock.

“Things are not getting any easier. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.”

Cavendish, who claimed 15 stage wins over the previous three Tours, came into the 98th edition knowing there would be only a handful of chances to sprint to victory in the race.

And after coming fifth in the first sprinters’ stage on Monday when American rival Tyler Farrar prevailed, he was determined to silence the detractors he labelled “ignoramuses”.

His HTC-Highroad team defied the difficult conditions on the coast road leading to Cap Frehel before successfully chasing down a late attack launched by French pair Thomas Voeckler and Jeremy Roy.

Cavendish then showed he can win without his traditional sprint train, jumping from wheel to wheel before launching a winning drive for the line in the last 150 metres.

“I’m really happy,” said Cavendish, who dedicated the win to his dog Amber, which died on Tuesday.

“I want to dedicate this to Amber. She was my little baby.”

He added: “I knew this was a technical finish and it was a hard stage but the team worked really hard for it today and I think I showed my resilience.

“It’s always sweet to silence the ignoramuses. I don’t want to name names.”

Having followed Roy when the FDJ rider pulled away with 33km to race, Voeckler was caught with 1.8km to go, paving the way for the sprinters’ teams to up the pace ahead of an explosive burst for the line.

HTC, however, caused confusion when German time-trial specialist Tony Martin pulled away with 1km to go, prompting Team Sky’s Edvald Boasson Hagen into a furious chase.

He was followed by stage one winner Philippe Gilbert, Spaniard Jose Joaquin Rojas and Hushovd as the sprinters waited to pounce.

Cavendish, who had been sitting on the wheel of Australian team-mate Matt Goss, moved out and onto the wheel of Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas in the final 250 metres.

Having benefited from the Welshman’s slipstream, the Manxman picked the perfect time to go it alone 150 metres from the finish, where he beat a tiring Gilbert.

Rojas was third ahead of young Frenchman Tony Gallopin, but later lost his green jersey when officials ruled he and Belgium’s Tom Boonen had blocked Cavendish while battling for the intermediate sprint points.

Cavendish, meanwhile, took his hat off to Gilbert. The Belgian, who earlier this season won all three of the hilly Ardennes Classics, normally excels on difficult uphill finishes.

“That was strong man, I didn’t think I was going to beat him,” said Cavendish. “Not just today, his performances the whole year are pretty awe-inspiring.”

Hushovd will now wear the yellow jersey into Thursday’s 226.5km ride from Dinan to Lisieux as the race heads out of Brittany towards Normandy.

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