Tour de France - report stage 5

The longest stage of the race saw four French riders go clear and Nicolas Vogondy (Agritubel), Lilian Jegou (FD Jeux) and Florent Brard (Cofidis) built an eight minute advantage at one point.

Mark wins - Pic fotoreporter sirotti

The sprinter teams in the main peloton, hunting for victory, moved to the front and upped the pace. Credit Agricole doing much of the work for Thor Hushovd and they were joined by Liquigas and finally Team Columbia.

Our plucky foursome up front still had 20 seconds in hand in the last kilometres and now looked most likely to be caught, but Vogondy decided to have one more throw of the dice and jumped away. He was caught metres from the finish, as first Cavendish went past to win and then the pack.

The Green jersey is now worn by Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole), but no change in yellow or the polka dot.

“This is far and away the biggest win of my career.” Cavendish said afterwards.

“Everyone knows what the Tour is, when you’re a kid you watch it on TV, you dream of being there. I’ve always known how important the Tour is.”

Discussing the team’s role in the finale, Cavendish said that German team-mate Gerald Ciolek “led me out from 600 metres. That’s a long way to go in the headwind, but you saw how fast he went past the other guys.”

“Then when Mark Renshaw went with sprinter Thor Hushovd with 250 metres to that was a bit early in the sprint for me to accelerate.”

“But after Renshaw had given Hushovd a good lead-out then my own final acceleration would have been less efficent if I had waited for my usual distance.”

“So I had to go for it when they did.” “Fortunately my strength was enough to take me all the way to the line. I was able to hold it all the way there and it all paid off.”

1 Mark Cavendish 43 Team Columbia 5h 27' 52"
2 Oscar Freire 133 Rabobank
3 Erik Zabel 151 Team Milram
4 Thor Hushovd 81 Credit Agricole
5 Baden Cooke 55 Barloworld
6 Robert Hunter 58 Barloworld
7 Leonardo Duque 186 Cofidis Credit Par Telephone
8 Robbie McEwen 6 Silence - Lotto
9 Francesco Chicchi 63 Liquigas
10 Julian Dean 193 Garmin Chipotle
11 Robert Förster 112 Gerolsteiner
12 Gert Steegmans 97 Quick Step
13 Romain Feillu 124 Agritubel
14 Sébastien Chavanel 162 Francaise Des Jeux
15 Jimmy Casper 123 Agritubel - Euskadi
16 Inaki Isasi 23 Euskaltel Chipotle
17 Magnus Backstedt 192 Garmin Telecom
18 Xavier Florencio 143 Bouygues Telecom
19 Jérôme Pineau 145 Bouygues
20 Sven Krauss 116 Gerolsteiner - Lotto
28 Cadel Evans 1 Silence
33 Damiano Cunego 71 Lampre Columbia
43 George Hincapie 47 Team Chipotle
50 David Millar 198 Garmin Step
57 Stijn Devolder 91 Quick
65 Denis Menchov 131 Rabobank CSC Saxo
83 Carlos Sastre 11 Team

General Classification (Yellow jersey)
1 Stefan Schumacher 111 Gerolsteiner 19h 32' 33"
2 Kim Kirchen 41 Team Columbia 19h 32' 45" @ 00' 12"
3 David Millar 198 Garmin Chipotle 19h 32' 45" @ 00' 12"
4 Cadel Evans 1 Silence - Lotto 19h 32' 54" @ 00' 21"
5 Fabian Cancellara 13 Team CSC Saxo Bank 19h 33' 06" @ 00' 33"
6 Christian Vandevelde 191 Garmin Chipotle 19h 33' 10" @ 00' 37"
7 George Hincapie 47 Team Columbia 19h 33' 14" @ 00' 41"
8 Thomas Lövkvist 48 Team Columbia 19h 33' 20" @ 00' 47"
9 Vincenzo Nibali 67 Liquigas 19h 33' 31" @ 00' 58"
10 Ivan Gutierrez 35 Caisse D’Epargne 19h 33' 34" @ 01' 01"
11 Denis Menchov 131 Rabobank 19h 33' 45" @ 01' 12"
12 Jens Voigt 19 Team CSC Saxo Bank 19h 33' 46" @ 01' 13"
13 Stijn Devolder 91 Quick Step 19h 33' 51" @ 01' 18"
14 Oscar Pereiro 37 Caisse D’Epargne 19h 33' 55" @ 01' 22"
15 Maxime Monfort 189 Cofidis Credit Par Telephone 19h 33' 57" @ 01' 24"
16 Damiano Cunego 71 Lampre 19h 33' 59" @ 01' 26"
17 Alejandro Valverde 31 Caisse D’Epargne 19h 34' 00" @ 01' 27"
18 Andy Schleck 16 Team CSC Saxo Bank 19h 34' 02" @ 01' 29"
19 Samuel Sanchez 27 Euskaltel - Euskadi 19h 34' 04" @ 01' 31"
20 Sebastian Lang 117 Gerolsteiner 19h 34' 13" @ 01' 40"
23 Carlos Sastre 11 Team CSC Saxo Bank 19h 34' 16" @ 01' 43"
27 Christian Knees 153 Team Milram 19h 34' 26" @ 01' 53"
28 Frank Schleck 17 Team CSC Saxo Bank 19h 34' 41" @ 02' 08"
29 Sylvain Chavanel 181 Cofidis Credit Par Telephone 19h 34' 43" @ 02' 10"
33 Roman Kreuziger 65 Liquigas 19h 35' 02" @ 02' 29"
44 Erik Zabel 151 Team Milram 19h 35' 52" @ 03' 19"
59 Riccardo Ricco 171 Saunier Duval - Scott 19h 36' 41" @ 04' 08"
97 Mark Cavendish 43 Team Columbia 19h 38' 31" @ 05' 58"
177 Wim Vansevenant 9 Silence - Lotto 19h 52' 38" @ 20' 05" and last

Sprint (Green jersey)
1 Thor Hushovd 81 Credit Agricole 88 Pts
2 Oscar Freire 133 Rabobank 85 Pts
3 Kim Kirchen 41 Team Columbia 81 Pts
4 Erik Zabel 151 Team Milram 72 Pts
5 Robert Hunter 58 Barloworld 60 Pts
6 Mark Cavendish 43 Team Columbia 51 Pts
7 Alejandro Valverde 31 Caisse D’Epargne 49 Pts
8 Romain Feillu 124 Agritubel 49 Pts
9 Robbie McEwen 6 Silence - Lotto 49 pts
10 Jérôme Pineau 145 Bouygues Telecom 46 Pts

Mountains (Polka Dot jersey)
1 Thomas Voeckler 149 Bouygues Telecom 19 Pts
2 Sylvain Chavanel 181 Cofidis Credit Par Telephone 11 pts
3 Björn Schröder 156 Team Milram 9 Pts
4 David De La Fuente 174 Saunier Duval - Scott 4 pts
5 Lilian Jegou 166 Francaise Des Jeux 3 pts
6 Christophe Moreau 121 Agritubel 3 Pts
7 Geoffroy Lequatre 128 Agritubel 1 Pts
8 David Lelay 127 Agritubel 1 Pts
9 David Arroyo 32 Caisse D’Epargne 1 Pts