Mark Cavendish’s fiercest competitor in the final sprint of Stage 18 of the 2010 Tour de France was simply a head wind. And the latter proved little challenge to the Manx Missile.
The win gave the world’s fastest human on two wheels his fourth win in this Tour and 14th stage win in the Tour overall. The gap between Cavendish and No. 2 Julian Dean, a teammate of Wenatchee’s Tyler Farrar, made it look like the peloton was coasting. The overhead shot is pretty amazing as Cavendish bullets off the front.
We’ll try to get film at 11.
Otherwise the general classification stayed the same, with Alberto Contador retaining the yellow jersey by a scant 8 seconds over Andy Schleck. Tomorrow’s 32-mile time trial will provide the race’s real climax, either confirming Contador’s right to this year’s trophy or fueling a debate likely to last for the ages over whether he should have waited for Schleck on Stage 15.