Tour de France: Cavendish out on his own with fourth win

Mark Cavendish's already immense achievements in this year's Tour came a step closer to the stuff of sporting legend yesterday when he blasted to yet another bunch sprint victory – his fourth in the race.

Yesterday there were no special celebrations as he finished the stage, even though Cavendish crossed the line almost three bike lengths clear of his closest rival. As if even he could not take in the scale of his success, the Briton looked several times to check there were no last-minute challenges to his triumph – and then made the classic gesture of stretching his arms wide and high in victory.

As ever he had burst out of the pack alone, on this occasion leaving it a trifle late – 150 metres – because of the strong cross-winds. But in six pedal strokes he was so far ahead of the rest of the field that his victory could not be questioned.

The statistics barely do him justice. Merely clinching one dash for the line in the Tour broke a 30-year drought on bunch sprints in the race for Great Britain. But there is so much more to the Manxman's achievements in this Tour. At 23, he has already taken as many stage wins as Britain's most prolific winner in the Tour, Barry Hoban. With 22 wins on the road in major events, in terms of victories he is already the country's fourth most successful professional in history.

Cavendish recognised that this year's victory "had been the hardest of the four. The first was the best because of how I won it. Now I am getting tired."

When it was suggested to him that his rivals might be getting a little tired of his crushing superiority, Cavendish said it was "unfortunate for them, but it's my job to win. In any case, I'm not so consistent as some of the guys, and the proof is that I'm not leading the points competition [awarded to the most consistent rider in the finishes]."

He praised his team, too, for "getting me to the final kilometre in the best condition possible. They always keep me out of the wind and they keep me out of trouble. I love them like they were my own brothers.

"They are so many different characters, but they all work so selflessly. They don't see it as a job, they live this as a passion."

Just as Cavendish seems unstoppable, so – unfortunately – does the doping news. This time round, though, it concerned a rider and a team already out of the race, Italian Leonardo Piepoli and the Saunier Duval-Scott squad.

The winner of the Tour's toughest stage so far this year – to Hautacam in the Pyrenees – Piepoli was sacked for "violating the team's internal ethics codes."

There are strong, although as yet unconfirmed, rumours that the Italian may have committed a doping offence, following his team-mate Riccardo Ricco's positive for a blood-boosting agent. Ricco's expulsion on Wednesday led immediately to the withdrawal of Saunier Duval-Scott, and there is widespread speculation the team may pull out of cycling altogether.

As for Ricco, the French police have announced he will be investigated for "use and possession of poisonous substances."

Cavendish may have another chance of a sprint win today in stage 14 of the Tour from Nimes to Dignes-les-Bains, in the Alpine foothills.

Alasdair Fotheringham writes for www.cyclingweekly.co.uk

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