Tour De France Stage 5 Results: Cavendish Claims Victory in Accident-Marred Day

It should have been a relatively uneventful day.

The 165km from Carhaix to Cap Frehel had no climbs of significance, but the combination of winding roads and a nasty North Atlantic breeze led to more carnage than we’ve seen on all of the other stages combined.

Remarkably, it was team leaders and big names who were caught up in the incidents.

First to go were Sky’s front man Bradley Wiggins and French champion Sylvain Chavanel of Quick Step after being caught out when the field suddenly slowed. Neither was hurt, but both required replacement bikes.

Next to go was Radioshack veteran and Lance Armstrong wingman, Levi Leipheimer.

Then the accidents got nasty. Radioshack leader and dark horse for a top-10 finish Janez Brajkovic was caught up in a gaggle of riders to go down and landed heavily on his head and was taken away in an ambulance with a nasty head laceration.

Also involved in the crash was General Classification contender Robert Gesnik of Rabobank.

While attention was distracted hoping that Brajkovic was okay, Tour favourite Alberto Contador came off, damaging his bike and losing some skin off his back. He gave the thumbs up to the cameras on the way back into the peloton, but he’ll be sore tomorrow morning.

But the fun wasn’t over.

Danish rider Nicki Sorensen of Saxo Bank looked like he got caught up with a photographer’s motorbike and was flung down the grass shoulder. He, too, was unharmed, but it must have been a scary moment.

Then former world and Belgian champion Tom Boonen went down heavily in another strange crash and was in the hands of medical staff for quite some time, before gingerly getting back on the bike and setting off to catch the field.

Elsewhere, there was actually some racing going on. The obligatory breakaway today had four riders—Sebastien Turgot (Europcar), Delaplace (Saur-Sojasun), Tristan Valentin (Cofidis) and Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Movistar).

While these riders shared the big points at the intermediate sprint, the real interest was in how the remaining points would be shared out. Tyler Farrar did not figure amongst the points, while current green jersey holder Jose Joaquin Rogas picked up a further seven points for ninth place.

Mark Cavendish was badly blocked and expressed his disappointment for all to see. He managed to pick up a further three points, but it will be interesting to see whether  the referees will do anything.

The highlight of the day was always going to be the final sprint and it didn’t disappoint.

After the ill-fated break for freedom by Thomas Voeckler was reeled in, an old-fashioned sprint was set up and Mark Cavendish finally showed his quality with an amazing burst of speed that brought him from tenth place to first in the space of 50 metres.

When he’s on song, there really is no one who can keep up with him. Even more impressive was the lead-up was a little disorganized, but Cav adapted and got the job done.

Despite all of the carnage in the field, crucially Cadel Evans, leader Thor Hushovd and the Schleck brothers remained upright but a number of contenders shed some skin. We’ll see over the next few days what impact that will have.

Standings after Stage 5

1. HUSHOVD Thor  TEAM GARMIN - CERVELO 17h 36' 57"  
2. EVANS Cadel BMC RACING TEAM + 00' 01"
3. SCHLECK Frank TEAM LEOPARD-TREK + 00' 04"
4. MILLAR David TEAM GARMIN - CERVELO + 00' 08"
5. KLÖDEN Andréas TEAM RADIOSHACK + 00' 10"
6. WIGGINS Bradley SKY PROCYCLING + 00' 10"
7. THOMAS Geraint SKY PROCYCLING + 00' 12"
8. HAGEN Edvald Boasson SKY PROCYCLING + 00' 12"
9. FUGLSANG Jakob TEAM LEOPARD-TREK + 00' 12"
10. SCHLECK Andy TEAM LEOPARD-TREK + 00' 12"