For the second time in this Vuelta a España, Mark Cavendish was passed close to the line and lost in a big bunch sprint. At the Tour de France he was clearly the quickest rider in the peloton, but that air of invincibility has been clearly missing thus far. Tyler Farrar was the victor yesterday, taking a rare win ahead of Cavendish and gaining confidence in doing so.
The Manx rider was disappointed after the stage, but acknowledged that he had made – or been forced to make – a tactical error.
“My leadout man Matt Goss punctured with five kilometres to go,” he explained. “So I had no choice but start sprinting from far. It was hard to hold it for so long.”
Another difficulty was that one of his regular lead-out riders Bernhard Eisel dropped out of the race yesterday, leaving him an additional man short when it counted.
"Goss was my last support rider and I was forced to go for it alone," Cavendish said. "I could sense the other guys coming up behind me, and I just couldn't hold it."
Cavendish and his HTC-Columbia team had a perfect start to the race when they rode to victory in the team time trial in Seville last Saturday. That put the sprinter into the leader’s jersey, but things haven’t quite gone to plan since then. According to team directeur sportif Tristan Hoffman, part of the problem was that Cavendish has been ill, and also because he was worried about being hemmed in. Without his normal leadout crew, there was no way to dictate the sprint.
“He was sick and he struggled after the time trial,” said Hoffman, according to the Independent. “But he recovered and we said this morning we'll see how he'd go. Mark was worried he'd get closed in by the other sprinters so he went really early. I'm not happy he didn't win, but I'm pleased he still has the legs to try.”
While Cavendish’s pride and track record in Grand Tours mean that he will certainly not be happy to lose out, the main reason for him to be taking part in this Vuelta is to prepare for the world road race championships in Australia on October 3rd. The course is easier than last year’s race, and some are predicting that a bunch sprint is one possible outcome. If so, the Manx rider believes that he has a strong chance of winning.
To that end, what he does in the opening week of the Vuelta a España is not crucial. He’ll want to top the podium as soon as possible, of course, but it is the form he shows towards the end of the race rather than right now which will show if he is on track for the worlds or not.
In the meantime, rivals such as Farrar and stage two winner Yauheni Hutarovich will keep on trying to gain the upper hand and clock up more stage wins. A bunch sprint today is unlikely due to the tough Cresta del Gallo climb in the finale, but tomorrow’s profile looks far more friendly for the fastmen in the bunch.