Spongebob Squarepants....
Mark Cavendish....
what have they got in common?
Well, they both got to stand on the same podium in Mesaieed on Tuesday but that’s probably
as far as it goes.
Right, let’s rewind a few hours now and talk you through stage 3.
It all started off in the sleepy fishing port of Al Wakra.
the old providing a stark contrast with the new as the Euro peloton arrived.
Cavendish was in a relaxed mood, maybe sensing already this would be just his kind of day.
The sprint king happy to hold court before the start, dispelling the notion his sprint
train would take months to perfect, and having a little pop at rival Belgian team Lotto and
their leadout train.
“Just because Greg Hendeson tweets about how great Lotto leadout train is - you don’t
need to work too hard on it, the biggest ingredient in a leadout is commitment, and that’s it.”
Time to take to the start line: the main job for BMC would be to protect Brent Bookwalter
in the gold leader’s jersey and Taylor Phinney, best young rider overall, six seconds behind
his teammate.
Barely fifteen kilometres in, came a sharp reminder that misfortune can strike at any
time: with the peloton going full tilt towards the first intermediate sprint a nasty pile-up
left a fair number picking themselves off the floor.
Saxo-Tinkoff’s Karsten Kroon wasn’t so lucky, a deep laceration to his knee saw him
head to hospital.
The chase back to the bunch went on for some time, and it was clear Phinney had hit the
deck as well.
Up ahead the sprint had been taken by BMC’s Adam Blythe - 3rd on GC at 10 seconds ahead
of Cavendish and Sky’s Edvald Boasson Hagen - 7th overall at 15 seconds.
Shortly after a break of seven riders managed slip free: Matty Hayman of Sky leading the
escape for the second time in three days.
With so little wind, the peloton was happy to sit back and keep the time gap at a manageable
2 minutes 30ish, conceding the second intermediate sprint to the breakaway.
Approaching Al Wakair a second time, the escape was getting a bit sloppy - and shortly after
it was caught.
Back in Mesaieed - the great and the good, not forgetting Spongebob and friends, had
assembled to await the peloton and what would surely be a big sprint.
And that’s just what it was - notice Cavendish and just how much lower he gets over the bars
than his rivals.
His win - without a train - looking easy.
Well, by his standards anyway.
After the usual platitudes about his team, came this interesting line about his expectations
for the first Monument of the season, Milan-San Remo.
“No, I’m not looking forward to San Remo.
I’ve written that off the last month.
It’s not really a race for me anymore.
I’m just looking forward to continuing to win whatever races I can up until the Tour
de France and then be successful there.”
Take that one with a big pinch of salt.
He’s in good form already and looking happy in his new surroundings at Omega-Pharma Quickstep.
The GC is still headed by BMC with Bookwalter donning the gold jersey for a third day...
but spare a thought for Phinney, he’ll no doubt have a really bad night’s sleep with
those cuts and bruises.
And he won’t be the only one.
Phil Sheehan GCN in Qatar