Key moments

The Tour de France was almost in the shadows of Mont Ventoux but that didn’t mean that there was any rest for the peloton on the eve of the anticipated showdown on the penultimate stage. The first hour was fast, the second hour even faster and the third faster still (48.7km/h). The stage featured an escape with 19 riders including Cadel Evans and Kim Kirchen but this was never given any room to breathe: Rabobank and Milram insisted on chasing them down and they finally got their wish before the final climb. There was a last-minute attempt to hold off the bunch by the world champion Alessandro Ballan and Laurent Lefevre but they could do nothing once the sprinters caught whiff of a victory. In the end, it was the sprint maestro Mark Cavendish who won, becoming the first rider since Lance Armstrong in 2004 to win five stages in one Tour de France. The Texan was the best of the GC riders, finished 12th – four seconds ahead of the next group.

The Progress Report
The itinerary for the 178km ‘transitional’ stage from Bourgoin –Jallieu to Aubenas – included three categorized ascents, the cat-4 cote de Culin (6.5km), cat-4 cote de la forêt de Chambaran (40.5km) and the cat-2 col de l’Escrinet (162km). There were 158 riders at the sign on and the official start was at 12.54pm. The intermediate sprints were in Le Rival (33km) and Saint-Julien-en-Saint-Alban (141km).

Evans Into An Escape
There were early attacks but it wasn’t until the 9km mark that any real advantage was gained. By the 15km mark, 20 men were in the lead of the stage. They included seven former stage winners. The group was composed of Evans (SIL), Popovych (AST), Millar (GRM), Perez Moreno (EUS), Kirchen (THR), Arrieta, Riblon and Roche (ALM), Bennati (LIQ), Arroyo, Gutierrez and Sanchez (GCE), Duque (COF), Spilak (LAM), Chavanel and Barredo (QST), Trussov and Vandenbergh (KAT), Lequatre (AGR) and Hivert (SKS). At 27km they were 1’20” ahead but Milram, Bbox and Rabobank led the chase until the end of the first hour. The average speed was 44.7km/h. Then Astana moved to the front of the bunch and by 47km the advantage of the 20 escapees was 1’50”. Rabobank had five riders at the front of the bunch for 50km and the maximum gain of 2’50” at the 85km mark. The average for the second hour was 48.6km/h.

Duque Breaks Up Lead Group
At the 110km mark, Duque attacked the lead group. He was chased down by Millar, Popovych, Arrieta and Gutierrez and, despite a frantic pursuit by the others, the quintet forged ahead and led by 50” at the 120km mark (the peloton was at 1’50”). The 14 remnants of the escape group were caught by the Rabobank and Milram-led peloton at the 128km mark when the five were ahead by 1’25”.
The five conceded their advantage and, just after the second intermediate sprint (at 141km) were caught but Duque continued on alone. At the 142km mark he was 20” ahead of the peloton that was still led by Rabobank. The Colombian was eventually reeled in at the 146km mark. The average speed for the third hour was 48.7km/h.

Peloton Splits On Final Climb
A number of riders were dropped on the final ascent including the Pellizotti in his polka-dot jersey but all the GC leaders were in the front group. With 25.5km to go, Lefevre (BBO) attacked but never gained much of a lead. With 21.5km to go, Ballan (LAM) surged ahead of the peloton and under the 20km to go sign he and Lefevre led the peloton by 18”. The two late escapees worked up a maximum gain of just 20” but were caught with 1,200m to go.

Cavendish Claims A Fifth Stage Victory
The Milram team controlled the pursuit of Ballan and Lefevre but with three kilometers to go the Columbia team came out of the shadows of the blue team and took responsibility for the capture. Hincapie peeled off just after the ‘flamme rouge’ and then Martin took over the lead-out duties for Cavendish. The Brit was forced to start his sprint relatively early but he had the speed, power and cunning to hold off all challengers and win a fifth stage in this year’s Tour!
Lance Armstrong was the only rider in the top 10 overall to finish with the same time as Cavendish (12th) so he increased his advantage over the likes of Wiggins and Frank Schleck. Contador finished 24th and will wear the yellow jersey in stage 20.

The man in the green jersey was one rider who believed that an escape would succeed in the transitional stage to Aubenas but Thor Hushovd forecast was wrong. Still, he remained focused on the task at hand and followed Cavendish everywhere… including the passage over the finish line. Second today, but he’s still first in the points classification.

“It was a very fast today, which was ultimately what made it difficult. I thought that the escape would go all the way through to the finish and I can therefore did not expected to contest a sprint. In fact, the Columbia team provided a lot of work for Mark Cavendish in the final, and I concentrated to stay in his wheel at the end. He launched his sprint before me because I did not have the freshness to start earlier. Then I did everything I could to try to win, but I have not succeeded.
“It is time to get to Paris. I know that for the green jersey, with a 25 point lead, I’m still comfortable but I will have to avoid all risks and also not to make silly mistakes. Obviously the ideal scenario would be to win the stage to the Champs-Elysées and to finish the Tour with the green jersey. I know I’m capable of beating Cavendish on the Champs-Elysées, because I am in very good shape. "

The leader of the general classification after 19 stages has a big advantage over second place but Alberto Contador is not celebrating anything just yet. Mont Ventoux looms and he needs to defend but he holds the upper hand as his rivals must attack.

“I know that the Schleck brothers are going to attack tomorrow. It’s a mythical climb and I like it but I don’t know if I can attack at the end of the stage because we will have the wind blowing us and it won’t be easy to get to the finish alone as it’s always windy in the last six kilometers.
“I think that Frank is going to attack because this is his last chance to show that he’s strong enough to get to the podium – like he did the other day over the Colombière – and I think it’s going to be some kind of a war between us but it’s not going to be easy to change the places on the podium.
“I’m sure that I’m going to suffer because it’s a really long stage and it’s going to be complicated. I will only be able to enjoy this race once I get to Paris.”

Andy Schleck lost four seconds of his overall advantage over Lance Armstrong when the front pack split in the final sprint of stage 19. So ended what the rider in the white jersey called “the hardest day of the Tour”.

“Today was the hardest day of the Tour for me so far this year. Many people will say that today because everybody already has tomorrow’s stage on the mind and yesterday was a hard time trial. So it’s been a tough week but tomorrow the legs will talk. It’s no secret: we will go into the climb in a good position and we’ll be attentive right from the bottom. I have personally never won a stage of the Tour so it might be my chance tomorrow. If Frank is with me… well, I helped him last time so this time it might be up to him to help me win. But of course many want to win on the Ventoux and it won’t be easy to drop Alberto or beat him on the climb. We’ll be there and we’ll try.
“I had wanted to save some energy today but I managed to save nothing. I had to give it everything just to stay in the wheels of the sprinters in the end. It was an incredibly hard stage. I don’t know what the average was but I don’t remember looking down and seeing the speed under 50. There’s one good thing about this: the day passes quickly but it’s also hard for everybody.
“On the Ventoux, you have to do the race before Chalet Reynard and that’s basically six kilometers from the top and that’s when the selection has to be made because after that it’s hard to make a difference. It won’t take long for the race to explode on the final climb.”

With a long category-two climb peaking 16 kilometers before the finish a lot of riders were spat out the back of the pack on the approach to Aubenas. But Mark Cavedish had decided well in advance that it was a stage that he could win… and, once again, the Brit finished off the work of his Columbia team-mates.

“It’s beautiful. We were just determined. Today was a really, really hard day and we’ve seen five or six guys from my team just empty their tank and I’m sure they’re going to suffer for it tomorrow and for them to put themselves in the box before the Ventoux, to enable me to win, shows how special they are. How they worked today was brilliant; over the climb and into the finish was just perfect.
“I spoke to Brian [Holm] last night and we discussed how the last rise was a second-category one; I’m usually okay with those. If I didn’t think I could get over it, I would have cut my effort and come in with the grupetto. In the first week I definitely wouldn’t have had a problem – it would have been a full-on sprint – but in the third week, with tired legs, I was sure they were doing to try and make it hard for us. I said to the guys, ‘We need to give it one last chance…’ and I asked them to stay with me. It doesn’t necessarily give me shelter but when you’ve got guys around you, it’s so good for morale. You know you’ve got someone there to push you on. If you feel like giving up because it’s too hard on the climb… when there are guys with you, it’ll let them down. If they’re there, it gives me an extra urge to dig deeper. It’s not an easy task to stay up there in the top 10 with Menchov riding on the front on the climb but with the guys with me, I was able to do it.
“It was just a case of suffering over the top. I even tried to go on the descent… Sanchez went and I tried to go after him but no one was going to let me do that.
“In the last kilometer Tony [Martin] gave it every last drop. He was dying and I had to go early – with 260 or 270 meters to go – which normally, on a flat sprint, is fine but on an uphill it’s a long way. I had to finish it off to pay them back.”