Cycling: Yesterday, Mark Cavendish made history by taking his 35th stage victory in a Tour de France. But how could he achieve this stage victory when hardly anyone really believed he could win before the start of the tour? We analyze Mark Cavendish's stage victory picture by picture and compare his behavior in the bunch sprint with that of Arnaud de Lie and Phil Bauhaus.
Cavendish is looking for the perfect rear wheel
It is no secret that the most coveted rear wheel in a bunch sprint is that of Jasper Philipsen (blue). The Belgian has proven time and again that he is actually the fastest man in a sprint royal. He also has the fastest lead-off rider in world champion Mathieu van der Poel. Mark Cavendish (green) himself cannot rely on such a strong lead-off rider in his team Astana. Therefore, his teammates deliver him the most usable rear wheel possible within the last kilometer. Then Cav has to fight his way through on his own. 800 meters from the finish line, the Brit still seems a little disorientated. Phil Bauhaus (yellow), on the other hand, has found his dream rear wheel. He is stuck behind Philipsen and is ready for the sprint. Arnaud de Lie (red), on the other hand, is far too far back and now has to rely on a lot of luck to get back to the front.
Three riders fight for Philipsen’s rear wheel
250 meters later, the picture has changed completely. Mark Cavendish has managed to capture Jasper Philipsen's rear wheel. In doing so, he has to engage in a direct fight with Phil Bauhaus. The German not only has to defend himself against the Brit, because Fernando Gaviria is also trying to challenge him from the right. Bauhaus almost falls and has to completely reorient himself. For him, the sprint is basically already over, while Cavendish is now in the best position. Arnaud de Lie, on the other hand, has had to choose the left side because he was not allowed to go to the right. He is now trying to hijack the Lidl - Trek train. They are riding on the left with two men at the front, but have forgotten to take their sprinter Mads Pedersen with them. The Dane cannot be seen in the picture here.
Cavendish also eliminates Gaviria
Now that Mark Cavendish has found his dream rear wheel, he must now defend himself against the attacks of others. Fernando Gaviria leans on him and tries to challenge him for the position. But the Briton does not let himself be chased away. On the contrary: Gaviria loses this battle for position and has to miss a few steps. The sprint is over for him too.
Bauhaus is pushed aside again – and even punished
Phil Bauhaus shows us how quickly you can go from the perfect position to falling behind in a mass sprint. Just a few seconds ago, the German was on Jasper Philipsen's rear wheel. Then he was put under pressure by Cavendish and Gaviria and now Sam Bennett is pushing him off the track. Bauhaus has to miss a few more steps. He will now reorient himself to the left side, but he has no chance. The jury later even puts him back to 171st place because he is said to have used his shoulders too much. Meanwhile, we see Mathieu van der Poel at the front. He even takes his left hand off the handlebars, which is strictly forbidden. This creates space for himself because he was almost trapped on the right side by the DSM pro. If this problem had not been solved by a very narrow margin, the sprinters on the right side of the road would have had no chance. But Mathieu van der Poel creates space and thus the chance of victory for all the riders behind him.
Van der Poel does not challenge Philipsen in the sprint
A little later, Mathieu van der Poel looks around. The Dutchman is looking for his sprinter Jasper Philipsen, who is right behind him. If Van der Poel were in top form, he would not turn around here, but would launch the sprint for his captain. But he is currently lacking the power, which is why he prefers to leave Philipsen on the back wheel of an opponent. But Daniel McLay is not fast enough, which slows Philipsen down.
Cavendish surfs to Ackermann’s rear wheel
The group on the left, consisting of the professionals from Lidl - Trek and Israel - Premier Tech, is faster, even though we are about to enter a long right-hand bend. Mark Cavendish is using all his experience here. Instead of staying on Philipsen's rear wheel, he jumps to Pascal Ackermann's rear wheel, which he feels is faster in this situation - and rightly so. Arnaud de Lie is still too far back. He waits an extremely long time due to the strong headwind.
Philipsen also has to admit defeat
Now it's a duel between Mark Cavendish and Jasper Philipsen. After Daniel McLay drops out, the Belgian is under pressure. He has to jump to another rear wheel, but fails in his attempt to steal Ackermann's rear wheel from Cavendish. At the front we still see Lidl - Trek, who continue the sprint without their sprinter Mads Pedersen with them.
Ackermann lacks finishing speed
Pascal Ackermann is able to get a perfect start to Ryan Gibbons' sprint, but the German clearly lacks the finishing speed. He is passed down to sixth place. In the end, he pulls the sprint past Mark Cavendish perfectly.
Cavendish looks over his shoulder
Then Mark Cavendish makes the decisive move. He looks over his shoulder and makes sure that he doesn't interfere with anyone's parade when he moves to the left side of the road.
De Lie is blocked
Now Jasper Philipsen tries to follow. But the Belgian is already a few meters behind and, like Mark Cavendish, has to cross the entire track. When he reaches Cavendish's rear wheel, it is already too late. Arnaud de Lie also fired up the turbo much too late. Although he was probably the fastest rider, his timing was completely lacking. He also didn't have a bit of luck. He actually wanted to overtake Alexander Kristoff on the left. But the Norwegian left no space between him and the barrier. When De Lie wanted to overtake on the right, Arnaud Demare got in his way. He would have been too late to catch up with Mark Cavendish anyway.
Conclusion: Cavendish clever, van der Poel weak
There are many reasons for winning a stage in a mass sprint cycling race. There can also be many reasons why things don't work out. At the moment, it looks like the Van der Poel/Philipsen duo at the 2024 Tour de France is nowhere near as strong as they were last year. It is obvious that the Dutchman does not have the power he had in 2023. But Jasper Philipsen himself has not made the right decisions so far. For Mark Cavendish, everything was just right in the sprint on the fifth stage. He had the legs and made the right decisions. The team management apparently told Arnaud De Lie that he should wait a very long time. There is no other explanation for why he approached this sprint so cautiously, even though there was plenty of room to place himself a little further up. We can be excited to see what happens next with the sprinters.