Tour de France - Sprint king Cavendish doubles up

Eurosport - Tue, 07 Jul 13:37:00 2009

Briton Mark Cavendish won the third stage of the Tour de France as seven-times champion Lance Armstrong climbed up to third overall in the standings at La Grande Motte.

CYCLING 2009 Tour de France Cavendish - 0

Cavendish, who also won the stage on Sunday, outsprinted Norway's Thor Hushovd after a 196.5km trek from Marseille with France's Cyril Lemoine coming home third.

Swiss Fabian Cancellara of the Saxo Bank team retained the overall leader's yellow jersey and now leads German Tony Martin and American Armstrong by 33 and 40 seconds respectively.

Favourite Alberto Contador, who was trapped behind after a sharp acceleration by Cavendish's Columbia-HTC team by the end of the stage, dropped to fourth overall, 59 seconds off the pace.

With the peloton gradually closing down a four-man breakaway composed of Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis), Ruben Perez (Euskaltel), Maxime Bouet (Agritubel) and Koen de Kort (Skil-Shimano), a bunch sprint finish seemed in store.

But the peloton split into two parts some 40km from the finish after a sudden acceleration by Columbia-HTC that surprised almost all the favourites, including Contador.

Among the top contenders, only Armstrong, back in the saddle after 3 1/2 years in retirement, was in the front group of some 28 riders who caught the four early fugitives.

Columbia, with no fewer than eight men inside the lead group, instantly pulled as hard as they could, and were joined by five of Skil-Shimano's riders, along with the Milram duo of Linus Gerdemann and Fabian Wegmann.

Armstrong did not help Columbia widen the gap, staying in the middle of the small pack with team mates Haimar Zubeldia and Yaroslav Popovych -- at first.

But with 15km remaining after discussions with team boss Johan Bruyneel, Popovych and Zubeldia started to work.

Seeing Armstrong and Cancellara further up the road, Cadel Evans' Silence-Lotto team, Andy Schleck's Saxo Bank squad and Christian Vande Velde's Garmin team took turns to try to reel the leaders back in, but they lacked the organisation of Columbia's well-oiled machine.

As the finish neared so the gap grew and the Columbia train began to move into position.

Bert Grabsch and George Hincapie, both of whom had given their all on the front for a large part of the crucial final 30 kilometres moved aside, and Mark Renshaw hit the front as they entered the final straight.

With Hushovd and Cancellara in contention, victory was by no means a formality for Cavendish, though when he moved out of the slipstream of Renshaw with 200 metres to go and surged for the line, it was clear Hushovd did not have the power to match him.

The Norwegian rolled in second with Dumoulin claiming a well-deserved fourth place, having managed to stay with the relentless pace of the lead group, despite having ridden out front for over 160 kilometres in the breakaway.

Martin and Armstrong were the day's big winners as the gap between the two groups reached 41 seconds on the finish line.

The general classification will receive a more significant shake-up in Tuesday's fourth stage, a 39-kilometre team time-trial around Montpellier.

STAGE FOUR LIVE at 1pm on British Eurosport (Sky 410 / Virgin Media 521); Also available on your PC via the Eurosport Player - click on the link under the picture to subscribe

Michael FitzGerald / Reuters

Comment 20 - 39 of 59

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  1. Today simply helps Astana keep everyone else guessing,­ Having Armstrong up the road plays into the tactics of­ a multipronged supposed threat but Armstrong is a decoy­ in the end because he is not good enough to win and­ that is plain. He is still too heavy.

    From Worldwide, on Mon 6 Jul 9:31PM

  2. Steve: (ITT) finished 177: Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team­ Columbia - High Road +0:03:14... I'd like to see u­ ride a bike at 70km/hr

    From Rigmarole, on Mon 6 Jul 8:58PM
  3. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    How is it that someone wins 2 out of 3 stages and is­ not near the top? Road cycling....boring boring boring­ boring..get a life and do a real DH run

    From Steve, on Mon 6 Jul 8:34PM

  4. i think you'll find cav is manx and not britons­ mark cavendish get it right

    From nick, on Mon 6 Jul 8:32PM

  5. Cav is calling Mum on his mobile to tell her the good­ news

    From Prue, on Mon 6 Jul 8:23PM

  6. Lance showed today the mind of a true TOUR DE FRANCE­ rider. to be in the right place watching, expecting the­ move and being ready to go at the right time!!! truly­ one of the best stages i have watched for a very long­ time.
    congrats to Cav the worlds best sprinter top­ marks to you and your amazing team today!!!!
    Lance for­ tour number 8!!!!! oldie but defo a goodie!!!!!!
    this­ is going to be an amazing year for the tour just what­ it needed to keep everyone on the dge of their seats

    From PAUL, on Mon 6 Jul 8:20PM

  7. Rigmarole he's referring to their new sponser htc­ (phones) thats why his other hand is pointing at his­ shirt

    From ai, on Mon 6 Jul 8:15PM

  8. Never ever underestimate the great Lance Armstrong.­ Part of cycling is to be in the right postions at the­ right time and today we saw Contador learn a huge­ lesson. Everybody seems to think that contador has TDF­ already won but I guarantee you if Lance is in a­ position to win it all and goes h2h with Contador it­ would not surprise me if he wins it. Lance has a inner­ spirit second to none.

    A big hand to Cav. The guy is­ just awesome.

    From maj, on Mon 6 Jul 8:13PM

  9. I'm sure that today we saw great tactical move from­ Astana. With help of Columbia, they create some panic­ in group, and Lotto, Saxo, Rabobank, Garmin had to make­ hard working (losing huge resources) before team time­ trail tomorrow. I don't think that there big­ problems for Contador, because he currently second,­ behind Armstrong (Cancellara and Martin not favourite­ in GC).

    From shark_mathboy, on Mon 6 Jul 7:53PM

  10. Go Lance

    From , on Mon 6 Jul 7:40PM

  11. your right Hoy didnt ride the Giro. For some reason I­ thought he was on the Linda McCartney team. Memory isnt­ what it used to be

    From Liam L, on Mon 6 Jul 7:38PM

  12. isn't cav mean to be holding his arms aloft?­ who's he calling

    From Rigmarole, on Mon 6 Jul 7:07PM

  13. if contador knows how to listen he has the chance of­ learning a great lesson about what it takes to be a­ great rider and win the tour. i seriously doubt that­ lance can match the spaniard in the mountains but he is­ just saying it out loud: if contador wants the­ leadership he has to earn it, to fight for it. if this­ would've happened 4 years ago with lance in the­ pack you would've seen not only his team working­ for him. contador failed at raising up to the ocasion­ and organizing a chaotic pack. had he done that he­ would've become automatically the leader of astana­ and not by the investment of a team manager. this is­ the difference between LA and contador. and in tune­ with the wimbledon final: it is not only about setting­ records but about how you do it. i respect federrer for­ the performance on sunday but roddick was the guy to­ steal the show. it's the same with what is going­ on at astana: i respect contador but lance proved him­ that he is still a long way to go if he wants to be a­ real rider. it is not victories that make champions.­ and it is not doping either. that is why we still watch­ this sport and any sport, because it is inspiring, and­ today, i got no inspiration from contador.

    From ilie, on Mon 6 Jul 7:01PM

  14. Chris Hoy rode the Giro (d'italia) !! I very much­ doubt that statement is true

    From Paul, on Mon 6 Jul 6:55PM
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    ALL CYCLING ON INTERNET: TOUR DE FRANCE , GIRO­ D’ITALIA, LA VUELTA, TOUR OF BRITAIN, LEEDS­ INTERNATIONAL CLASSIC, MILAN-SANREMO, PARIS-ROUBAIX,­ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, MOUNTAIN BIKE AND MUCH MORE

    From WWW.PREMIERSHIP.ALTERVISTA.ORG, on Mon 6 Jul 6:49PM

  16. the old master draws first blood, still o very long way­ to go to paris but an ominous start none the less,was­ being in the right place at the right time just a­ stroke of luck or a stroke of genius whichever of the­ two it has certainly mixed things up a bit, if astana­ win the team tt handsomely then i guess that means­ lance is in yellow wow that would be a turn up for the­ books. the fireworks have started earlier than anybody­ would have thought. vive le lance....and vive le­ tour....

    From ralph, on Mon 6 Jul 6:48PM

  17. When the team is not in your side doesnt matter if­ u're wise or not, Astana is not there for Contador­ period. Contador Knows that, everybody knows that. But­ i believe the spanish rider still have same cards in­ his hands and lady's he will use then and when that­ happens we will talk again

    From black_portugal, on Mon 6 Jul 6:45PM

  18. Astana will break a part, if Contador was Armstrong­ what i saw today could never happended totally­ impossible. Contador is obviiuslly on is own. He cant­ relie on Armstrong, Popovich, Paulinho is probablly is­ only wingman. Brunel will make everything he can to­ give the leadership to Lance.

    From black_portugal, on Mon 6 Jul 6:43PM

  19. ive never been into cycling and with all the talk of­ drugs in this sport it really did put me off.
    However i­ had some free time today and decided to have a look and­ i have to say i was impressed. You guys may have a new­ fan here.
    I look forward to seeing them ride through­ our streets.
    Well done all.
    Bezoya Barcelona.

    From BEZOYA, on Mon 6 Jul 6:20PM

  20. ragu694u, I hope Lance does do it but he has his work­ cut out. I think the mountains are going to be the­ making of him. Hes so dedicated, but he has some tough­ comp out there. Im in Spain and its HOT, the heat is­ moving north with heavy storms, thats going to have an­ impact if it hits them. Gotta love Cav though, so many­ tactical moves and clever comments. He wants it so bad,­ but would never let show it. The Giro made him realise­ a few things, and he´s ready..............GO CAV!!

    From gemmabaxter69, on Mon 6 Jul 6:16PM
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