Mark Cavendish, who yesterday became the most prolific British stage winner in Tour de France history, described his 19th stage victory as the peak of his career.
JULIEN PRETOT
Mark Cavendish, who yesterday became the most prolific British stage winner in Tour de France history, described his 19th stage victory as the peak of his career.
Cavendish's ninth Tour stage win followed his decision to force the pace from the bottom of the second category climb with the help of his Columbia team-mates.
"It was one of the hardest sprints I had to do. It made it very emotional at the finish," said Cavendish, who was escorted up the Col de l'Escrinet by Belgium's Maxime Monfort, the American George Hincapie and Germany's Tony Martin.
"I told my team-mates: take me to the top and I will do my best in the sprint'. It was really grim on the climb but I got over it. To empty themselves the way they did the day before Mont Ventoux shows they have no egos and give everything to the team."
Cavendish paid a special tribute to Hincapie, who helped him in spite of a painful collarbone injury. "He's injured quite badly actually. He's been a professional for 16 years and he's quite resilient, he's a true professional. I've never heard the guy complain, no matter how bad he is. It shows true class, true professionalism," he said.
Cavendish is now targeting more laurels in the final stage to Paris, but he agreed the points classification green jersey was now almost certainly out of reach and that Thor Hushovd well deserved it.
The Norwegian broke away on his own in the hardest mountain stage of the Tour on Wednesday to collect vital points and secure an almost unassailable lead.
"After Thor's ride two days ago, no one deserves the green jersey better than him. Someone who fought for the jersey like that, I can't compete with him," he said.
Hushovd, winner of a stage in Barcelona, was also full of praise for his rival. "Mark's very hard to beat and today he showed what a fighter he was by hanging there in the climb to top it off with a great sprint," he said.
The Norwegian leads the Briton by 25 points in the green jersey standings and their battle on the Champs-Elysees should provide the final excitement of the Tour tomorrow.
Before that, though, the yellow jersey will be decided later today, with Alberto Contador almost certain to be on the top step of the podium in Paris. The Spaniard has a lead of four minutes and 11 seconds over Luxemburg's Andy Schleck despite being trapped in a late split with other leading contenders.
"You can lose the Tour everyday and today, I kind of slowed down by the end because of the rain," said the Astana rider. "This Tour has been extremely difficult, I am savouring it twice as much as I would have normally."
Lance Armstrong, third overall, gained four seconds in the incident to move 1.10 behind Schleck. Going into this afternoon's showdown to the top of Mont Ventoux, the American seven-times champion has a 15-second lead over the fourth-placed Briton, Bradley Wiggins.
A 20-man breakaway shaped up in the early stages, notably featuring Cadel Evans who was out to make up for his calamitous Tour so far. The runner-up in 2007 and 2008 started the stage in 29th overall, 38.20 off the pace. Laurent Lefevre and the world champion, Alessandro Ballan, went clear on the final climb and built a 20-second advantage before Cavendish's Columbia team pulled the peloton as a storm broke.
Ballan and Lefevre were swallowed up with just over one kilometre to go, with Cavendish's team-mates setting up the Briton for another brilliant sprint to victory.
