Tour de France 2011: Mark Cavendish powers to Brittany sprint victory

• British rider times final sprint to perfection • Read Barry Glendenning’s live coverage Great Britain’s Mark Cavendish claimed a sensational victory on the fifth stage of the Tour de France on a dramatic day in Brittany. Among the incidents in the 164.5-km stage from Carhaix to Cap Frehel on the Brittany coast, the Slovenian Janez Brajkovic was taken to hospital after crashing out and Nicki Sorensen of Denmark was pulled down by a photographer’s motorbike. Sorensen’s team leader Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-SunGard) and Team Sky’s Bradley Wiggins were among other fallers, while Tom Boonen (QuickStep) had a heavy tumble on the tarmac and suffered for much of the day. The finale along narrow, undulating roads was always going to be challenging and so it proved, with numerous attacks attempted and foiled as the stage ended in a sprint finish. And, after his HTC-Highroad team-mate Tony Martin led the peloton into the final straight, Cavendish came from well down to accelerate around the peloton, including Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas, to take the 16th Tour stage success of his career. Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) who won stage one was second, with José Joaquín Rojas (Movistar) third and Thomas fifth. Provisional fifth stage result 1 Mark Cavendish (GB, HTC – Highroad) 3hr 38min 32sec 2 Philippe Gilbert (Bel, Omega Pharma-Lotto) same time 3 José Joaquín Rojas (Sp, Movistar) 4 Tony Gallopin (Fr, Cofidis) 5 Geraint Thomas (GB, Team Sky) 6 Andre Greipel (Ger, Omega Pharma-Lotto) 7 Sébastien Hinault (Fr, AG2R) 8 William Bonnet (Fr, FDJ) 9 Daniel Oss (It, Liquigas) 10 Thor Hushovd (Nor, Garmin-Cervélo) Provisional overall standings 1 Thor Hushovd (Nor, Garmin-Cervélo) 17hr 36min 57sec 2 Cadel Evans (Aus, BMC Racing) +1″ 3 Fraenk Schleck (Lux, Leopard) +4sec 4 David Millar (GB, Garmin-Cervélo) +8 sec 5 Andreas Kloeden (Ger, RadioShack) +10 sec 6 Bradley Wiggins (GB, Team Sky) 7 Geraint Thomas (GB, Team Sky) +12 sec 8 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor, Team Sky) 9 Jakob Fuglsang (Den, Leopard) 10 Andy Schleck (Lux, Leopard) Tour de France 2011 Mark Cavendish Tour de France guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 6, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.