NO STAGE FRIGHT FOR CAV
Tom Simpson Chris Boardman Sean Yates David Millar Bradley Wiggins Chris Froome Mark Cavendish Geraint Thomas MARK CAVENDISH faces the first acid test of his recovery from glandular fever on the Tour de France today, insisting: “It won’t be a failure if I don’t win a stage”.
Apart from 2014, when he crashed out in Harrogate on the Grand Depart, Cavendish has won at least one stage in cycling’s blue riband race every year since 2008.
But his pursuit of Eddy Merckx’s all-time record of 34 career stage wins – the Manx missile is currently four behind the Belgian legend – was blighted by a long lay-off earlier this year after he contracted the Epstein-Barr virus.
Le Tour’s second stage, a 126.5-mile long haul from GERAINT THOMAS became only the eighth Brit to wear the Tour de France leader’s yellow jersey after being inspired by his pal Sam Warburton’s British Lions.
Thomas ( below) the flank engine spent his morning on the Team Sky physio’s couch watching Warburton – another Whitchurch High School old boy from Cardiff – conquer the All Blacks in Wellington.
Hours later Chris Froome’s faithful minder, so often the best supporting act in t he peloton, produced a storming run in the time trial first stage here.
And on a fabulous day for Sky, defending champion Va Va Froome took time out of all his main rivals in the general classification.
It was wet, wet, wet on the banks of the Rhine, but double Olympic track gold medallist Thomas, 31, was home and dry in 16mins 4secs to crown his greatest day on the road.
And after spending almost an hour in the clubhouse leader’s hotseat, watching 44 rivals who left after him fail to last the pace, he will never forget his maiden Grand Tour stage win.
Thomas said: “This is my eighth Tour de France – to win a stage at last is incredible, and the yellow jersey is an amazing cherry, as they say. It was agony to sit in the hotseat. For a while Dusseldorf to Liege over the border in Belgium, could provide an early indication of whether Cavendish has managed to restore his sprint power to full voltage.
He said: “This year I’ll be over the moon if I win just one stage, but I don’t think it will be a failure if I don’t win any.
“I’m realistic about what
Wet
I went on the turbos and chatted to the guys to take my mind off who was on the course.
“There were some pretty big names out there and I kept thinking someone like Tony Martin was going to beat me – it was the most nervous I’ve been for a long time.”
Last man to depart Froome came home just eight seconds behind Thomas in sixth place. But more importantly, he gained crucial time on GC rivals Simon Yates ( 25 seconds), Richie Porte (35 secs) and Nairo Quintana (36 secs) after staging his own shotgun heist. Froome was so keen to master the treacherous conditions that, only 90 minutes before his start t i me, he r ode shotgun in the front seat of Team Sky’s support vehicle following team- mate Michal Kwiatkowski. Another Brit, Tour virgin Scott Thwaites, had already decorated his maiden voyage with a crash and slide across the wet tarmac. Thwaites later tweeted there was “no harm done” but there was no such luck for Spain’s Alejandro Valverde, who broke his kneecap after skidding into a barrier. I can hope to achieve, and I don’t know what to expect, but with a bit of luck there can be surprises in sprinting.
“It’s not always necessary to have the best train – sometimes following the right wheel is enough to win.”
Cavendish came home safely in 17min50sec in the time trial prologue.
Crucial