Britain’s Mark Cavendish of Omega Pharma-Quick Step, expertly led out by teammates, delivered a textbook finish on yesterday’s Stage 5 of the Tour de France (Cagnes-sur-Mer to Marseille) to claim his first stage victory of the year. Claiming the win in a time of 5h 31’51” – with Team Sky’s Edvald Boasson Hagen, second and Connondale’s Peter Sagan, third – brings Cavendish’s total Tour haul to 24 wins, just one shy of all-time third position’s Andre Leducq and a step closer to Eddy Merckx record 34 wins.
Despite the toughness of yesterday’s stage – at 228.5km, the second longest of the Tour – Omega Pharma-Quick Step clearly had more than enough left for the end; post-win Cavendish commented: ‘I usually don’t start winning until about the 5th stage of the Tour anyway. This has been pretty on the norm, but we were really motivated today. ORICA-GreenEDGE did the chasing today which was nice, for once we could sit behind and save it for the end…’
The TdF continues today with Stage 6, 176.5km Aix-en-Provence to Montpellier. For more information on the other British riders in the 2013 TdF click here.
Want to know how the Tour de France began? Read the Cyclo feature Origins of the Tour de France.
Image © TDWsport.com
