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Matt Goss hampered by Tour crash again

11th July, 2013
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Aussie sprinter Matt Goss has again missed the chance to fight for Tour de France stage honours, hampered by a crash near the end of the 12th stage.

Germany’s Marcel Kittel (Argos) claimed his third stage win of this year’s race, storming past Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma) on the line.

Orica-GreenEdge’s Goss avoided hitting the bitumen on Thursday, as he did narrowly in Tuesday’s frenetic finale, but the pile-up cost him any chance of victory.

“3 x this race I have been hit by a flying bike in the last 3km,” the Tasmanian tweeted after the finish at Tours.

“It’s wearing thin. They say crashes come in 3s I hope near misses do also!”

Orica-GreenEdge director Matt White said on the team’s website: “Things were going pretty well until they weren’t.

“Gossy was caught next to the crash that ended up splitting the bunch.”

Canadian teammate Svein Tuft had earlier fallen when his front wheel slipped out as he led the peloton through a roundabout with 5km remaining.

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Tuft “lost some skin off his elbow but seems okay other than that”, White said.

About 20 riders were caught in the big crash with 2.5km to go with some stuck under the bikes of others as wheels and frames jutted out at all angles.

Overall race leader Chris Froome (Sky) was close enough to hear the crash but just far ahead enough to avoid it.

“It’s always like that at the end before a sprint,” the Kenyan-born Briton said. “It’s scary for everyone.”

Kittel’s compatriot and stage six winner Andre Greipel (Lotto) was one of several riders brought down.

Cadel Evans (BMC) believes Thursday’s crosswinds made people nervous.

“It takes a lot in energy, and concentration especially, which leaves people a bit fatigued for the final … as we saw with the crash,” the Australian said.

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Evans, the 2011 Tour winner, praised his teammates for helping him avoid trouble so he could live to “face another day”.

BMC director John Lelangue was also thrilled his team’s general classification (GC) man survived the carnage.

“He’s concentrating already on the next weekend with the arrival at the Mont Ventoux,” Lelangue said.

“It’s there we begin the last big week of the Tour de France with the mountains and the time trail (on Wednesday). Everything can (still) happen.”

Evans is the top-ranked Australian on GC but sits 14th at 6:54 back.

Friday’s 13th stage to Saint-Amand-Montrond is “one of the last likely sprints before the final-stage showdown on the Champs-Elysees,” according to White, who’s tipping a bunch sprint and hoping for an Australian win.

While Goss on Thursday was lamenting his third mishap, stage winner Kittel was celebrating the fact “good things come in three”.

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“It was a real sprint today, that’s why I’m so happy,” he said.

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