Going one better than his 6th place finish on stage 3, Mark Cavendish sprinted to 5th on stage 4 from Dax to Nogaro. But it was another opportunity and another strike out for the Manxman, whose chances to take the record-breaking 35th Tour de France stage are slowly beginning to run out.
The day was one of two very polarising halves. After the toughest Tour start in recent memory in the Basque country, the only thing the peloton seemed motivated for on stage 4 was a very easy day. It was more than 100km before a breakaway finally set off for its procession of sponsor-appeasing TV time after the intermediate sprint, despite a halfhearted charge from Wout Van Aert and a few fellow Belgians before.
In the final few kilometres, however, chaos ensued as the fight for position began. With a train of Jumbo-Visma riders on his wheel, Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious) led the peloton onto the Circuito Paul Armagnac motor racing circuit in Nogaro with 2.7km to go.
"It was carnage," Cavendish told TV and press. "Every team would have had a plan for that final and I would bet there wasn’t any of them that went right, apart from Jumbo the guys into the narrow roads early. It was just a real mixing pot of riders in the final."
In what could perhaps be construed as a metaphor of a man feeling a greater sense of urgency, there was no pre-interview shower for Cavendish unlike stage 3 the day before.
It would be speculative to suggest that's how the Manxman is feeling though. He was met at his team bus by a small scrum of media, all with the same questions as the day before, and after a quick consoling embrace with team principal Alexandre Vinokourov and sprint lead-out consultant Mark Renshaw, he fielded the questions right away. Like before, his demeanour remained calm, he took time to consider his answers, and he even cracked a joke.
"My boys got me exactly where I wanted to be," he continued. "I was constantly analysing who was there, who had other teammates and just jumping from train to train. Finally, I saw Mads [Pedersen] who I think had [Jasper] Stuyven with him, and I thought that was the one.
"Stuyven was going to lead him out, Mads usually goes early, it’s a block headwind finish, long straight, wide road, so I thought I’d use that, you know. But they just didn’t go. I was waiting.
"At one point, I was thinking, it’s 350 [metres] to go, maybe I should just hit now and if someone passes, I’ll limit my losses. But you gamble and I was waiting for them to go. In the end, they didn’t go and everyone else got the jump. It was about trying to get the best position then."
Among the carnage that Cavendish describes, there were four separate crashes. Fabio Jakobsen came down hard, and Cavendish's teammate Luis Leon Sanchez was among the casualties too and has been taken to hospital for checks. In a separate incident, Mathieu Van der Poel was found guilty of elbowing a competitor and was fined 500CHF and relegated to the last position in his group.
Cavendish did well to avoid the melee. The modest Cees Bol told Cyclingnews that he was able to "help him here and there," adding that Cavendish "found his way out alone in the last corner."
"I’m most worried about Luis Leon Sanchez," the Briton said, with a clear look of concern. "I think he’s gone down, I’ve just heard. I hope he’s alright."
Out of the six flat stages in this year's Tour de France, the Briton had previously highlighted just five that he thinks present an opportunity for him.
"Three to go. Limoges isn't really a sprint. Back in the day, it would have been a sprint, but it's 4% for a kilometre, so those that always thwart the sprinters will be looking for it. Bordeaux will be the next one for us."
