Published Thu, Jul 15 10 09:36 AM
Mark Cavendish will be the rider to watch as the Tour de France leaves the mountains for the flat in a 184.5-km 11th stage from Sisteron to Bourg les Valence on Thursday.
The Briton won the last two sprints before the Alps and while most of his rivals also made it up the mountains without too much damage, he fared unusually well in altitude.
"Cav did very well in the mountains. We were very happy and somewhat surprised that he was never in any trouble," said one of his Columbia team directors, Allan Peiper.
"He feels very well and his morale is high," he added.
A 13th career stage win in Bourg-les-Valence would make the Isle of Man rider the most successful sprinter in the Tour de France in the last two decades -- a feat achieved in only three years.
The sprinter with the most Tour stage victories is Frenchman Andre Darrigade, with 22 wins over 11 years.
But Cavendish should beware of American Tyler Farrar, whose broken wrist is feeling better, Norway's green jersey holder Thor Hushovd and Italy's Alessandro Petacchi, also winner of two stages.
The Briton took some comfort in Wednesday's 10th stage by beating them all in the peloton's sprint for ninth place.
Source: Web Search
0 comments:
Post a Comment