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Stage 14 of the 2016 Tour de France has seen Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) take his fourth victory, despite not having lead out man Mark Renshaw after a tough day riding into headwinds.
Cavendish continued to stake his claim as the best sprinter in this year’s race, with what was probably his toughest victory. His lead out train left him out of position without Renshaw, however he managed to find Marcel Kittel’s wheel and then came around to win the stage.
There was a little bit of an indiscretion up towards the finish, as Cavendish appeared to cut Kittel off but while the officials had a look at it nothing came of it.
Kittel would finish fifth in the end, with a fight up the middle from Peter Sagan claiming third place, and Alexander Kristoff on the left hand side of the road taking second after a strong bit of work from his Katusha team.
Andre Greipel was the one sprinter who was again outclassed to the line, and it is hard to see exactly what is wrong with him this year, but his form is nowhere near what it was this time last year.
Earlier in the day there was a four man breakaway allowed to go away which featured Martin Elmiger (IAM), Alex Howes (Cannondale), Jeremy Roy (FDJ) and Cesare Benedetti (Bora).
They were never given more than about four minutes, and had it shaved below three at the intermediate sprint with 63 kilometres to go which was won by Benedetti.
Back in the bunch it was Peter Sagan benefiting from the good work of Etixx-Quickstep and refusal to sprint from distance of Kittel that allowed the green jersey wearer to take the points.
Towards the finish the breakaway were allowed about 30 seconds for the final 20 kilometres with first Howes and then Benedetti unable to respond to a relentless rhythm being tapped out by Elmiger.
At the end of the day though, the breakaway were never staying away and Cavendish proves his class one more time before we head off into the mountains tomorrow.
Top 10
1. Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) @ 5:43:49
2. Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) + 0:00
3. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) + 0:00
4. John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) + 0:00
5. Marcel Kittel (Etixx-Quickstep) + 0:00
6. Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) + 0:00
7. Bryan Coquard (Direct energie) + 0:00
8. Davide Cimolai (Lampre) + 0:00
9. Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) + 0:00
10. Samuel Dumoulin (Ag2r La Mondiale) + 0:00
General Classification
1. Chris Froome (Sky) @ 63:46:40
2. Bauke Mollema (Trek) + 1:47
3. Adam Yates (Orica) + 2:45
4. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) + 2:59
5. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) + 3:17
6. Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) + 3:19
7. Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) + 4:04
8. Richie Porte (BMC) + 4:27
9. Daniel Martin (Etixx-Quickstep) + 5:03
10. Fabio Aru (Astana) + 5:16
Chris Froome extended his overall lead yesterday, and the battle for general classification is starting to look like a one way show, but Stage 14 could provide one of the final opportunities for the sprinters. Join The Roar for live coverage from 9:30pm (AEST).
The stage, at 208.5 kilometres sets out from Montelimar and while it is classed as a flat one, it is one of those days that could end up being more transition and suiting a breakaway with plenty of little challenges.
It undulates more or less the whole way at Villars-les-Dombes Parc des Oiseaux and it will be interesting to see at this point in the tour exactly how much effort the sprinters teams want to put in to control the race.
There are three Category 4 climbs on course but all coming in the first half of the stage. In saying that, there are plenty of lumps and bumps afterwards that could well have been categorised and after a time trial yesterday, and with a big mountain day tomorrow it will be anything but easy.
The interemdiate sprint on the course will come after 145 kilometres in La Fayette and the chance of anyone going for a stage win actually competing there is pretty slim, given there will only be about 60 kilometres to go at that point.
Inside the final 20km there is a substantial enough rise up to Birieux, and you would well expect the breakaway to be caught by then if there is going to be a bunch sprint.
The finale to the stage over the last five kilometres is actually partially downhill, but is more or less flat with the downhill bits not really worth talking about.
Prediction
At this point in the Tour de France, with plenty of kilometres in the legs most of the peloton will want a day off – of course, the sprinters aren’t ‘most of the peloton’, and whether we get a bunch sprint is down to them and how they ride.
With limited opportunities left in the race for them I expect to see a bunch sprint happen. It is a tougher sort of day and Andre Greipel has to be the favourite, ahead of the likes of Michael Matthews and Peter Sagan. Mark Cavendish and Marcel Kittel will be there somewhere as well.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of Stage 14 from 9:30pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add your own comments in the section below as the action unfolds from France.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde