Andre Greipel punched the air after the pair crossed the line, but the German’s celebrations proved misplaced as replays showed Cavendish took it by a whisker.
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Hinault, one of the five-time winners of the Tour whose last win in 1985 remains the last Frenchman to win the Tour, believes there are no boundaries for Cavendish.
“To even be mentioned in the same sentence as Bernard Hinault is something that I couldn’t even have dreamed of”, Cavendish said.
“No way could I compare myself to the greats in any way”.
Britain¿s Chris Froom grabs a bag with food from a team member in the feeding zone during the fourth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 237.5 kilometers (147.3 miles) with start in Saumur and finish in Limoges, France, Tuesday, July 5, 2016.
“I felt a little bit empty on the steep part”, said Stuyven, who made his breakthrough past year when he won a stage at the Spanish Vuelta.
Three stages into the Tour, the questions have been clearly answered. I wanted to be behind Greipel to launch my sprint.
Contador, who has hurt his left and right sides in his fall and a calf muscle, said: “It’s hard for me to pedal sitting out of the saddle, but that’s a question of time”. I was never as close to victory, but I haven’t won yet.
“I’m very disappointed but I must not give up”, he reflected.
Prudhomme had feared Cavendish might have lost the killer instinct needed in sprints after fatherhood – his daughter Delilah was born shortly before the 2012 Tour with son Frey born in August previous year. “I feel like I am bouncing back”. “Now it’s something more than winning and more than being a moving billboard”. We ride for Qhubeka.
“We have great sponsors… but we really ride for a cause – we want to get 5,000 children on bicycles in Africa. It could be a spiel but it’s not; it’s 50 per cent of what we do, with results the other 50 per cent”.
“There is a lot of emotion, I had to fight to come back”, Kittel said.
“It’s Mark Cavendish. Everyone expects him to win every race he starts”, said Australian Mark Renshaw, Cavendish’s key lead-out rider on the bunch sprints for the Etixx-QuickStep team.
Last year, Quintana was second overall and Valverde was third after their team led a planned two-pronged approach to the race. “He’s been fortunate the last few days but that was tough for him today”.
It was Sagan’s fifth stage win on a Tour, and his first since 2013.
“It was nice”, Sagan joked about the leisurely pace. I’m glad that we took things into our own hands.
The 223.5km third stage from Granville to Angers is pan flat but Sagan could be in for a frosty reception from fellow riders following his vociferous attack on the peloton on Sunday evening.
When you consider McLay’s Fortuneo-Vital Concept team lack the resources of the WorldTour heavyweights, who pay top dollar for the best lead-out men in the business, it makes his debut even more impressive.
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Hansen added that the CPA’s proposed rule change on timing overall classification times in sprint stages would reduce stress leading up to and during a sprint finish.
