Cav takes Stage 19. I'm off to Paris.
Wow, didn’t see that one coming.
The Category 2 climb at the end of today’s stage didn’t dampen any sprinters’ aspirations as the Columbia HTC train dragged Mark Cavendish to the front of the peloton to allow him to give it a shot. Usual compatriot Mark Renshaw was nowhere to be seen, so Cav had to sprint for the line slightly sooner than anticipated to pre-empt Hushovd and the other sprinters congregating behind him.
Possibilities for Cav to get back in green? Well, he probably won’t be able to get any points on the intermediate sprints tomorrow, what with there being two Category 3’s in the way - so unless something awful befalls Hushovd on the Champs Elysee and Cavendish can take the full 35 points of the sprint finish, I’d say the winner of Green has been decided.
Well, I’m off to Paris in 4 hours, so I’ve pre-written the previews of tomorrow and Sunday and hopefully this clever little gizmo will publish them at the right time. As previously mentioned, all being well (read: if the hotel has internet/if he doesn’t forget..) we have a special guest writer for tomorrow’s Ventoux stage review - I’ll let him introduce himself - and then I will be reporting live from Paris (assuming I’m not drunk, or far too over excited) so keep checking back for news and pictures from the Champs Elysee!
