Is there a new Sprint King in town?
Kittel out-sprints Cavendish to pick up yet another tour stage as Chris Froome finishes in 14th place holding on to his almost 3 and a half minute lead over Valverde.
Cavendish and his team have been under pressure after a few disappointing stages during this 2013 tour and with Omega Pharma-Quick Step signing old HTC team mate Mark Renshaw is seems as though the team managers are also feeling the increasing pressure to produce results. Having moved from HTC and Team Sky which allowed him to have a great team around him and some strong riders to lead him out in to his sprint, OPQS have not been able to give him that platform and clean path that the world champion needs.
Thursday's closing spring was different. Cavendish was led out by his Omega Pharma-Quick Step squad with faultless precision. It was a sprint that involved two teams - Cavendish's Omega Pharma-Quick Step and multiple 2013 Tour de France stage winner, Marcel Kittel's Argos. Despite a clean run, Cavendish was simply not fast enough to keep Kittel away. Kittle did a 'Cavendish' on Cavendish - he allowed the Tour de France sprint legend to power off first only to catch him and pass him just in time to win by half a wheel's length.
Something that will be less comforting to Froome is the fact that Edvald Boasson Hagen, who the tour leader stated was "a huge part of the team"crashed out of the race after fracturing his shoulder. Sky's team principle, Sir Dave Brailsford, also voiced his dissapointment at the premature exit of Boassan Hagen from the Tour -"It's a real shame for Edvald and a setback for the team that he's been forced to abandon the race." However, the man who has led British cycling to its most successful period in history remained confident going forward in the race -"It's never nice to lose a rider of Edvald's ability, but ultimately we're still confident that with the riders we've got left we can pull together and see the race through. The plan doesn't change and we will do everything we can to support Chris."
Cavendish might be finding it hard to get those all important points as the prospect of retaining the green jersey he won in the 2012 tour slips away but Chris Froome, on the other hand, continues to comfortably finish stages ahead of his rivals as the potential of wearing that yellow jersey going in to Paris increases.
Cavendish and his team have been under pressure after a few disappointing stages during this 2013 tour and with Omega Pharma-Quick Step signing old HTC team mate Mark Renshaw is seems as though the team managers are also feeling the increasing pressure to produce results. Having moved from HTC and Team Sky which allowed him to have a great team around him and some strong riders to lead him out in to his sprint, OPQS have not been able to give him that platform and clean path that the world champion needs.
Thursday's closing spring was different. Cavendish was led out by his Omega Pharma-Quick Step squad with faultless precision. It was a sprint that involved two teams - Cavendish's Omega Pharma-Quick Step and multiple 2013 Tour de France stage winner, Marcel Kittel's Argos. Despite a clean run, Cavendish was simply not fast enough to keep Kittel away. Kittle did a 'Cavendish' on Cavendish - he allowed the Tour de France sprint legend to power off first only to catch him and pass him just in time to win by half a wheel's length.
"I don't think me, or the team, could have done anything differently. He was just simply better. I tweeted the other day that I think he's the next big thing. I think he's the next superstar in sprinting and he showed it. He's won three stages now and that's not easy. I can tell you that from experience." The Isle of Man rider recognised the young talent that has prevented him from pick up points on this tour and that has left him 96 points behind leader Sagan.
Coming up to the last 5km, race leader and Team Sky rider, Chris Froome, began to slip to the back of the peloton. He did so with no worries as his nearest yellow jersey rival, Alejandro Valverde, sat four places behind him as they crossed the finish line meaning that the British rider still has almost a 3 and a half minute lead over the Spaniard.Something that will be less comforting to Froome is the fact that Edvald Boasson Hagen, who the tour leader stated was "a huge part of the team"crashed out of the race after fracturing his shoulder. Sky's team principle, Sir Dave Brailsford, also voiced his dissapointment at the premature exit of Boassan Hagen from the Tour -"It's a real shame for Edvald and a setback for the team that he's been forced to abandon the race." However, the man who has led British cycling to its most successful period in history remained confident going forward in the race -"It's never nice to lose a rider of Edvald's ability, but ultimately we're still confident that with the riders we've got left we can pull together and see the race through. The plan doesn't change and we will do everything we can to support Chris."
Cavendish might be finding it hard to get those all important points as the prospect of retaining the green jersey he won in the 2012 tour slips away but Chris Froome, on the other hand, continues to comfortably finish stages ahead of his rivals as the potential of wearing that yellow jersey going in to Paris increases.
Tour de France: Race details
Stage 12 (Fougeres - Tours, 218km) 1 M Kittel (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano 4hrs 49mins 49secs, 2 M Cavendish (GB) Omega Pharma-Quick Step, 3 P Sagan (Slovak) Cannondale Pro Cycling, 4 A Kristoff (Nor) Katusha, 5 R Ferrari (It) Lampre-Merida, 6 D Impey (SA) Orica-GreenEdge, 7 J Joaquin Rojas Gil (Sp) Movistar Team, 8 Y Gene (Fr) Team Europcar, 9 J Jose Lobato Del Valle (Sp) Euskaltel-Euskadi, 10 S Dumoulin (Fr) AG2R La Mondiale, 11 S Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team, 12 G Steegmans (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step, 13 J Simon (Fr) Sojasun, 14 C Froome (GB) Sky Procycling, 15 E Garcia Echeguibel (Sp) Cofidis, Solutions Credits, 16 M Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step, 17 N Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team, 18 A Valverde Belmonte (Sp) Movistar Team, 19 R Kreuziger (Cz Rep) Team Saxo-Tinkoff, 20 C Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team all at same time.
Overall 1 C Froome (GB) Sky Procycling 47hrs 19mins 13secs, 2 A Valverde Belmonte (Sp) Movistar Team at 3mins 25secs, 3 B Mollema (Neth) Belkin Pro Cycling Team at 3.37, 4 A Contador Velasco (Sp) Team Saxo-Tinkoff at 3.54, 5 R Kreuziger (Cz Rep) Team Saxo-Tinkoff at 3.57, 6 L Ten Dam (Neth) Belkin Pro Cycling Team at 4.10, 7 M Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step at 4.44, 8 N Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team at 5.18, 9 R Alberto Faria Da Costa (Portugal) Movistar Team at 5.37, 10 J-C Peraud (Fr) AG2R La Mondiale at 5.39, 11 J Rodriguez Oliver (Sp) Katusha at 5.48, 12 J Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team at same time, 13 D Martin (Rep Ire) Garmin-Sharp at 5.52, 14 C Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team at 6.54, 15 M Nieve Ituralde (Sp) Euskaltel-Euskadi at 8.04, 16 M Rogers (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff at 8.28, 17 A Schleck (Lux) RadioShack Leopard at 8.32, 18 D Moreno Fernandez (Sp) Katusha at 9.34, 19 M Monfort (Bel) RadioShack Leopard at 10.16, 20 I Anton Hernandez (Sp) Euskaltel-Euskadi at 10.48.
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