Greig Leach

Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) was clearly frustrated with the way the stage was playing out. The peloton had let four guys get away at the start of the day, and three were now over six minutes ahead with just 32 kilometers left to race. This was a stage that the sprinters like Cavendish had marked as one for them, and now a stage victory was slipping away up the road. Cav had tried to lift the pace, but no one would go on the offensive with him, or with his team. With the highest place rider up the road still way behind the Yellow Jersey's time, no one felt like putting in the effort to bring the escapees back. So here was going to be a time when the risk of going in the break paid off, much to Cavendish's disappointment.