It was a picture perfect day for HTC Columbia. Everything went according to plan. The leadout was perfect, Renshaw gave Cav a great jump, and Cavendish was not even remotely challenged as he cruised across the line for his third victory of the Tour. Then, after Cavendish made his way yet again to the podium and got yet another bouquet to add to his collection, the race officials made an announcement that would change the team for the rest of the Tour. Prized leadout man Mark Renshaw had been disqualified.
I will examine the incident further in detail in a follow-up article, but basically what happened was a mixup between Renshaw and Garmin's Julien Dean that ended up with Renshaw having to headbutt Dean out of the way. The Tour officials did not appreciate this, and now Cavendish is without his leadout man. Renshaw has been critical to Cav's success, and Cav himself usually credits Renshaw with a big part of his victories. He will be greatly missed (unless the Tour reverses it through some late appeal, unlikely as it is) and HTC will need to find a new leadout man. Bernhard Eisel is an obvious contender for the spot, as he is the one who leads out Renshaw to the finishing stretch. Personally, I think Columbia would be better off going with the smaller and sleeker Tony Martin, who may not be a great sprinter but can at least take Cavendish to the stretch at a bit faster of a pace (Eisel would take Cavendish further, but not as quickly). Regardless, Cavendish will continue to compete as he is not only shooting for stage wins, but is also in contention for the green points jersey. That honor currently goes to Alessandro Petacchi.
Petacchi came in 2nd behind Cavendish, and gained enough ground on Thor Hushovd to take the green jersey back for the first time since stage 2. He said he hopes to keep it all the way to Paris, and with the recent team problems of Cavendish and Hushovd's inability to get to the top 5 positions I think he has a very good chance. Pineau kept the KOM jersey, and Schleck stayed atop the Young Rider and overall GC. It was an easy defense today for the yellow jersey, who was protected very well by his Saxo Bank team throughout the day.
It was a picture perfect day for HTC Columbia. Everything went according to plan. The leadout was perfect, Renshaw gave Cav a great jump, and Cavendish was not even remotely challenged as he cruised across the line for his third victory of the Tour. Then, after Cavendish made his way yet again to the podium and got yet another bouquet to add to his collection, the race officials made an announcement that would change the team for the rest of the Tour. Prized leadout man Mark Renshaw had been disqualified.
I will examine the incident further in detail in a follow-up article, but basically what happened was a mixup between Renshaw and Garmin's Julien Dean that ended up with Renshaw having to headbutt Dean out of the way. The Tour officials did not appreciate this, and now Cavendish is without his leadout man. Renshaw has been critical to Cav's success, and Cav himself usually credits Renshaw with a big part of his victories. He will be greatly missed (unless the Tour reverses it through some late appeal, unlikely as it is) and HTC will need to find a new leadout man. Bernhard Eisel is an obvious contender for the spot, as he is the one who leads out Renshaw to the finishing stretch. Personally, I think Columbia would be better off going with the smaller and sleeker Tony Martin, who may not be a great sprinter but can at least take Cavendish to the stretch at a bit faster of a pace (Eisel would take Cavendish further, but not as quickly). Regardless, Cavendish will continue to compete as he is not only shooting for stage wins, but is also in contention for the green points jersey. That honor currently goes to Alessandro Petacchi.
Petacchi came in 2nd behind Cavendish, and gained enough ground on Thor Hushovd to take the green jersey back for the first time since stage 2. He said he hopes to keep it all the way to Paris, and with the recent team problems of Cavendish and Hushovd's inability to get to the top 5 positions I think he has a very good chance. Pineau kept the KOM jersey, and Schleck stayed atop the Young Rider and overall GC. It was an easy defense today for the yellow jersey, who was protected very well by his Saxo Bank team throughout the day.
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