Stage 11 Recap

Well as expected the breakaway just wasn't to be today, as the 2 rider break was easily caught 5k out. As we have seen all tour, team Columbia brought the fast pace on the front early and often looking to get there man Mark Cavendish another stage win. They were challenged by Liquigas then Lampre then finally in the last k a surprisingly strong group from Milram but the experienced men from Columbia held tough to the front never relinquishing position on what proved to be a difficult inclined finish. Just like yesterday Hincapie was on the front for Columbia-HTC with around 700 to go and Mark Renshaw, the lead-out man of lead-out men, took up the pace after him with the Manx Missile, Mark Cavendish, waiting in the wings and Hushovd and Farrar hanging tough in 3rd and 4th. This would be no standard win for the Islander of Man, as Hushovd was no longer content to wait for 2nd in Cav's slipstream. The Big Norwegian drove to alongside Cavendish with 150 to go, but "the god of thunder" had gone too early this time and faded fast, leaving the job of dethroning the Tour's new king of sprints to young American Tyler Farrar. Farrar timed his attack well, coming hard to the line on the outside a performance deserving of a stage victory. But Farrar will have to once again put off a trip to the winners podium, as Cav' went to the well one more time, pulling a gear out of god-knows-where and slipping ahead of Farrar for his 4th stage win this year and his british-record tying 8th in his career. He equals Barry Hoban's British record of 8 stages wins, but while hogan won his over a period of 9 tours, Cavendish has won his 8 in only the last 2. This guy can sprint and will be dominant for a long time to come, expect him to make that record all his with a 9th stage win in the next week and a half. Also with the win Cav' picked up 35 more valuable sprint points, reassuming the responsibility of the green jersey, as Hushovd faded to a disappointing 5th. But with the fireworks of Cavendish and the consistency of Hushovd, its likely these 2 will fight for the points classification all the way to Paris. Oh and the GC remained unchanged, Nocentini has about a two-more-day lease on yellow.

Tomorrow after sprint finishes the last two days, look for a breakaway to to vying for the stage win. The will be a bit hilly, featuring 6 small categorized climbs with 3 coming close to a the finish. The terrain should allow for a well timed break to stay away. But with serious mountains coming on friday, the sprinters might want one last go for glory, before they suffer through the alps.