HTC-HIGHROAD’S MARK CAVENDISH CLAIMS FIRST TOUR DE FRANCE SUCCESS OF 2011
Britain’s Mark Cavendish has claimed his first stage win of the 2011 Tour, the 16th of his career in cycling’s biggest bike race. Cavendish’s victory, his fifth of 2011, came in a hotly disputed bunch sprint at the end of stage five from Carhaix to Cap Frehel ahead of Belgium’s Philippe Gilbert and Spain’s Jose Joaquin Rojas.
“I’m just passionate about my sport, I love to win and the team gave it everything today to make sure I could get to the line first,” Cavendish said, “There are a lot of difficult finishes this year and not so many bunch sprints, so I had to make sure I got this one, I had to be resilient.”
“On top of that I’ve had some difficult starts to the big Tours, that was only different in 2009, but that’s just my character, not something to get obsessed with.”
“We put every other race on the backfoot to be sure we’re in top condition for the Tour and that paid off today, that’s why we win.”
Cavendish has now taken twenty-six Grand Tour stage wins, including two stages of the Giro in 2011, as well sixty-seven wins on the road since turning pro in 2007. The HTC-Highroad men’s squad has racked up forty-one victories this season alone, making it the most successful WorldTour team of 2011.
Jose Ivan Gutierrez, team Movistar, is wearing the polka dot jersey after today’s stage. In 2000 he won the Tour stage from Nantes to St Nazaire, as well as having been winner of Tour of Emile in 2003 and Tour Mediterranean in 2007. He was champion of Spain in 2001 and 2010.
