Cavendish Gets First 2011 Tour de France Stage Win

British sprinting star Mark Cavendish of HTC-Highroad won his first stage of the 2011 Tour de France Wednesday afternoon, outsprinting Thor Hushovd, Philippe Gilbert, and José Rojas to capture the crash-filled 164.5 km (102.2 miles) stage.

Cavendish has now won 16 Tour stages in four years, and could well win another few this year. At that pace, he could surpass the record of 34 set by Eddie Merckx before Cavendish hits 30.

“It was a difficult finish and there were a lot of other guys up there for the finale—Geraint Thomas in the white, Brad Wiggins, Thor Hushovd, Rojas, Gilbert,” Cavendish told letour.com. “It was a difficult sprint from only a small group. It was hard to stay at the front. I had to go 100 percent to win that one!”

Cavendish had to fight to the front without the benefit of his leadout train of Tony Martin and Matt Goss, which broke up coming into the final kilometer. Edvald Boasson-Hagen attacked 880 meters (962 yards) out, but got caught.

Thor Hushovd led into the final 250 meters (273 yards), but the big man was burned out from riding to defend the yellow jersey the day before.

Philippe Gilbert launched next, with José Rojas on his wheel. Rojas broke right while Gilbert moved left to cut off Hushovd. Cavendish came streaking up the far right from 10 riders back in the final 50 meters (54 yards) to beat them all to the line.

Stage Five was marked as a sprinters’ stage, but it didn’t have a sprinter-friendly finish. Instead there was a steep climb three kilometers (1.8 miles) out, and the final kilometer was slightly uphill—exactly the kind of terrain that catches a sprinter out and makes him burn up his energy just short of the line. Cavendish found an extra reserve to beat his rivals.

“It was uphill coming up to three kilometers to go—that was hard!” he said. “That was a climb and I was on the edge of my saddle and then it went down, but the uphill in the final kilometers really hurt. I’ve won harder before but I’ve also been dropped on easier … so at least it’s a sign that my form is good.”

Next: Crosswinds and Crashes