One for the Sprinters

Stage 5: Cagneres-sur-Mer - Marseilles

After a tough passage through Corisca and the team time trial yesterday, the peloton turned to a route that truly suited the sprinters. While the first day in the Tour had offered something similar to that of today's stage, the chaos at the finishing line meant that a proper bunch finish never happened. This was the stage the sprinters were waiting for - a chance for the contenders for the green jersey to test themselves against their rivals. 

A breakaway of six riders formed early on and was allowed to build a lead of around 13 minutes over the peloton. It was a bold move, attacking from a long way out, but it always seemed destined to fail. The sprinters' teams were watching closely, wanting their riders to earn points in the green jersey classification after being starved of that opportunity by the Corsican hills. A breakaway would never hold a lead against the charging peloton, and an air of inevitability seemed to foreshadow their eventual absorption into the peloton.

The breakaway fractured as it approached the finish line, with a last stand coming from the young Astana rider, Alexey Kutsenko. He was, however, caught by the peloton with just over 3 kilometres to go to the finish. The sprinters' teams battled for position at the front of the peloton, and it was Cavendish's team, Omega-Pharma Quickstep, that took control of the peloton for the final couple of kilometres. What followed was a near-perfect lead out for Cavendish, with large contributions from Michal Kwiatowski and Peter Velits. A final push from Cavendish's front man, Gert Steegmans, took Cavendish clear of Greipel and Sagan and catapulted him towards the finish line to claim his first stage win of this year's Tour, and the 24th in his career.

As Cavendish sprinted for the line, there was a massive crash in the rest of the peloton, with just a few hundred metres to the finish line. It was the second of two big crashes that happened on the day, the first of which happened 16 kilometres to the finish and caught out Marcel Kittel. Christian Vandevelde and Pierre Rolland also went down in the crash that saw 15 riders dislodged from their bicycles. Thankfully, all of the riders rejoined the race. The crash inside the last kilometre didn't catch out the maillot jaune, and Simon Gerrans rode safely to the finish line. He finished a few places behind second-placed Daryl Impey, but still maintained his lead in the overall standings at the end of the day. 

In the sprint for the line, Peter Sagan was held off by Edvald Boasson-Hagen and had to settle for third place on the day, just ahead of Andre Greipel. Sagan maintains his lead in the green jersey classification, but Cavendish has jumped up to second, tied on points with Alexander Kristoff. Kittel has fallen back in the standings to 6th place after being involved in the crash and not being present to contest the sprint for the finish. 

In the other classifications there was no change. Pierre Rolland still holds on to his polka-dot jersey and will probably do so until stage 8 at the very least. In the white jersey classification for the best young rider in the Tour, Michal Kwiatowski still leads. He will be doing a lot of work for Cavendish on the flat stages leading up to stage 8, and it is quite likely that he will relinquish his lead in that classification when the 8th stage rolls around and the peloton enters the Pyrenees.

A double for Cavendish?

It is a shorter and flatter stage tomorrow, and it should once again be a day for the sprinters. With only one categorised climb, the unimposing Col de la Vayede, the stage is once again set for a bunch sprint a the finish line. Cavendish looked shaky at the intermediate sprint point in today's stage, but made his intentions clear with a superb sprint at the end. It appears that his battle with bronchitis is over, and he's recovering very well. 

I have no doubt that Cavendish wants to add another stage victory to his already impressive collection of 24. Doing so will put him in equal third on the list of most all-time stage victories in the Tour de France, and much closer to the green jersey. However, as important as the stage win is, he'll need to fight harder for the points on offer at the intermediate sprint point. Cavendish's sprints at the previous intermediate sprint points have been lacklustre to say the least. He's consistently been beaten by the other green jersey contenders, in particular Andre Greipel. Greipel's performances at these sprint points has been sublime, being the first person through the sprint after the breakaway on four occasions. Seemingly small victories like this all add up, and could be the difference in a very tight race for the green jersey. If Cavendish wants to win this classification, he must fight hard for all points on offer as, I have no doubt, Sagan will do.

The yellow jersey should be safe with team Orica Greenedge, but the possibility exists that it could change hands to Daryl Impey. The difference between Gerrans and Impey is a matter of mere position. Gerrans' overall finishing position is just a few places ahead of Impey's and before today's stage Impey needed only to finish 9 places ahead of Gerrans to claim the maillot jaune. Impey finished ahead of Gerrans on today's stage, but not far enough ahead to claim the yellow jersey for himself. However, the gap has now been diminished, and a simple lapse of concentration from either rider could see the jersey switch to Impey - a high honour for the team's main lead out man for Matthew Goss. If Impey claims the maillot jaune he will become the first ever South African to wear the coveted jersey.