Cycling News: Cavendish's third stage win - seems set to wear Green
Jersey, Vuelta a Espana
The proverb slow and steady wins the race surely cannot apply to sports and there are plenty of races in sports! From running a race on foot to participating in a race in a car, if you’ve thought of it then there’s probably a competition
being held in some remote corner of the world that’s egging its participants to compete for who makes the best time. In the world of sports, steady may apply to the winner but slow doesn’t. Strategy on the other hand is definitely the number one rule in any
sportsperson’s playbook. It’s all about strategizing and playing your strengths, and it seems like Mark Cavendish has finally applied that to the Vuelta a España, which of course is a cycling race.
The Vuelta a España or the Tour of Spain is a stage race that lasts three weeks. It consists of 21 day-long segments called stages which include time trials and mountainous routes. Cavendish and his team HTC-Columbia began the
Vuelta by winning the first stage, but started to lack behind in subsequent stages of the race. The race will enter its 19th stage on Friday the 17th of September.
The 12th stage saw Cavendish’s “slow” transform to “fast enough to win the stage.” Cavendish’s stage winning hat trick was a bust when he came in 119th in stage 14. Winning the 12th and 13thstages
led Cavendish to aim for the Green Jersey, which is awarded to the winner of the point’s classification. For most sprinters like Cavendish, the jersey may be considered the top prize. This will be the biker’s first points win in this world renowned race. "I've
never won that points jersey before and it would be good to do it,” said Cavendish. The man who some may consider as the fastest sprinter in the world identified stage 18 and the race finale as potential victories.
As the race veers to an end, the Manx rider’s aim may soon be realized. The 18th stage saw Cavendish clinch the winning title again and hence prove that he was not wrong in citing the ride through Salamanca as a potential
win. The sprinter worked well with team mate Matthew Goss to secure HTC-Columbia’s fifth stage win. Cavendish was pleased with his team’s performance and praised his team members for their vigilance, enthusiasm and hard work, "It's me that crosses the line
first but it's the guys who put me there."
Argentina’s Juan Jose Haedo and Manuel Antonio Cardoso came in second and third respectively for this segment. Haedo gave Cavendish some competition during the final meters of the race but the Manxman pulled away in time.
According to the Vuelta website the Isle of Mann rider ranks 152 in the general standings and has been fairly consistent in the points classification.
The 19th stage is the longest stage in the tour being 231.2km in total. It begins from Piedrahita and ends at Toledo. Friday’s segment includes one category two climb near the start.
Spain’s Vincenzo Nibali still retains the leader’s red jersey and the top 10 standings of the race did not change after the end of the 18th stage.
Vuelta a España details
Stage 18, Valladolid -
Salamanca; 148.9km: 1. Mark Cavendish (GB - HTC-Columbia) 3hours 27mins 11secs, 2. Juan José Haedo (Arg- Team Saxo Bank) 1 sec, 3. Manuel Cardoso(Por- Footon-Servetto)
same time, 4. Tyler Farrar (USA- Garmin - Transitions) s.t., 3. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel - Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t., 4. Mauro Finetto (Ita - Liquigas-Doimo) s.t., 5. Samuel Dumoulin (Fra
- Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne) s.t., 6. Robert Förster (Ger- Team Milram) s.t., 7. Enrique Mata Cabello(Spa- Footon-Servetto) s.t., 8. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel - Omega Pharma-Lotto)
s.t., 9. Wouter Weylandt (Bel -Quick Step) s.t.,10. Danilo Hondo (Ger- Lampre-Farnese Vini) s.t..
General classification: 1. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita - Liquigas-Doimo) 74hrs 47mins 6secs, 2. Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa - Xacobeo Galicia) 38secs, 3. Peter Velits (Svk - HTC-Columbia)
1min 59secs, 4. Frank Schleck (Lux - Saxo Bank) 3mins 43secs, 5. Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa - Katusha) 3mins 48secs, 6. Xavier Tondo (Spa - Cervelo) same time, 7. Tom Danielson (US
- Garmin-Transitions) 3mins 58secs, 8. Nicolas Roche (Irl - Ag2r-La Mondiale) 4mins 2sec, 9. Carlos Sastre (Spa - Cervelo) 4mins 16secs, 10. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Spa - Caisse
d’Epargne) 5mins 42secs.
Points classification: 1. Mark Cavendish (GB - HTC-Columbia) 111 points, 2. Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa - Katusha) 93pts, 3. Tyler Farrar (US - Garmin-Transitions) 90pts, 4.
Vincenzo Nibali (Ita - Liquigas-Doimo) 88pts, 5. Philippe Gilbert (Bel- Omega Pharma-Lotto) 75pts.
Teams classification: 1. Katusha 224hrs 06mins 51secs, 2. Caisse d'Epargne 16secs, 3. Xacobeo
Galicia 11mins 41secs, 4. Cervelo 19mins 32secs, 5. Ag2r-La Mondiale 34mins 54secs.
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