Kittel turns back top sprinter Cavendish to take 12th stage
TOURS, France — At this Tour de France, it is Marcel Kittel and no longer Mark Cavendish who is looking like the fastest man on two wheels.
Everything was primed Thursday for Cavendish to win a 25th Tour stage in his illustrious career. His teammate from Belgium, Gert Steegmans, did his job to perfection, guiding Cavendish into position for the final sprint to the line in Tours in the Loire valley.
But Cavendish wasn’t quick enough. Kittel overtook him just before the line.
“He was just simply faster,” Cavendish said. “I can go back and look over and over again. I don’t think myself or the team could have done anything different. He was just simply better, you know?”
Cavendish is still by far the most successful stage winner still active. Two of the riders with more stage wins — Bernard Hinault (28) and Eddy Merckx (34) — are long retired. The third, Andre Leducq (25), died in 1980. Cavendish came to this Tour with 23.
He won his 24th last week in Marseille and could still get to 25 and match Leducq’s total at this Tour. The last stage, especially, on the ChampsElysees in Paris almost always offers a golden opportunity for sprinters. Cavendish is unbeaten on those cobblestones since 2009.
Still, the 28-year- old rider must have been hoping for better from this 100th edition of the famed race. Since his first victory in 2008, he has always won multiple stages at every Tour. In 2009, he won six stages.
Cavendish switched teams this year — from Sky to Omega PharmaQuick Step — because he wanted to be even more successful at the Tour, specifically. Unlike at Sky, which last year focused its resources on Tour winner Bradley Wiggins and, at this Tour, race leader Chris Froome, Omega has built its team around Cavendish.
Yet, aside from his win in Stage 5, this isn’t proving to be a vintage Tour for Cavendish. He had a cold in the first week. He collided with Tom Veelers, knocking the Dutch rider off his bike, in the sprint finish of Stage 10. Cavendish insisted it wasn’t intentional.
The next day, a spectator doused him with urine during the time trial. But perhaps worst of all is that Kittel is dominating Cavendish. The ArgosShimano sprinter has three wins at this Tour de France. That makes a total of five for German riders, with Tony Martin winning the time trial and Andre Greipel winning a sprint on Stage 6.
“As we say in Germany, good things come in three,” Kittel said.
Rolf Aldag, an Omega director, said he still regards Cavendish as “the best sprinter in the world.” Given the tightness of the finish, Aldag says it “would be unfair to say that he doesn’t have it. I think he still has it.”
At Sky, Cavendish’s former boss, Dave Brailsford, also warned against jumping to conclusions. He suggested Cavendish simply needs to jell with his Omega teammates responsible for maneuvering him into position to compete in the final sprints.