Total distance covered: 987.4 km (Armstrong lying 18th at this stage -- but a mere 2 minutes 25 seconds behind the leader -- isn't this what makes this such an exciting sporting event!)
Standing Rider Rider number bib Team Time Gaps
1. CANCELLARA Fabian 13 TEAM SAXO BANK 22h 59' 45"
2. THOMAS Geraint 39 SKY PRO CYCLING 23h 00' 08" + 00' 23"
3. EVANS Cadel 121 BMC RACING TEAM 23h 00' 24" + 00' 39"
4. HESJEDAL Ryder 54 GARMIN TRANSITIONS 23h 31" + 00' 46"
5. CHAVANEL Sylvain 131 QUICK STEP 23h 00' 46" + 01' 01"
6. SCHLECK Andy 11 TEAM SAXO BANK 23h 00' 54" + 01' 09"
7. HUSHOVD Thor 95 CERVELOTEST TEAM 23h 01' 04" + 01' 19"
8. VINOKOUROV Alexandre 9 ASTANA 23h 01' 16" + 01' 31"
9. CONTADOR Alberto 1 ASTANA 23h 01' 25" + 01' 40"
10. VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen 101 OMEGAPHARMALOTTO 23h 01' 27" + 01' 42"
11. ROCHE Nicolas 81 AG2R LA MONDIALE 23h 01' 27" + 01' 42"
12. VAN SUMMEREN Johan 58 GARMINTRANSITIONS 23h 01' 32" + 01' 47"
13. MENCHOV Denis 191 RABOBANK 23h 01' 34" + 01' 49"
14. WIGGINS Bradley 31 SKY PRO CYCLING 23h 01' 34" + 01' 49"
15. MILLAR David 57 GARMIN - TRANSITIONS 23h 01' 51" + 02' 06"
16. KREUZIGER Roman 44 LIQUIGAS-DOIMO 23h 02' 09" + 02' 24"
17. SANCHEZ Luis-Leon 161 CAISSE D’EPARGNE 23h 02' 10" + 02' 25"
18. ARMSTRONG Lance 21 TEAM RADIOSHACK 23h 02' 15" + 02' 30"
Garmin Lead It Out, Cavendish Takes The Win
The HTC-Columbia team didn’t have it all its way for the finale: it had the numbers at the head of the peloton but the Garmin squad squeezed up the right of the road with 3km to go. The team of Farrar had a force of five there for the final 2km and had three left as they led the peloton around the tight final turn with 600m to go. But then the wheels fell off for what looked like it might have been a surprise by the squad that hadn’t contributed to the chase of the escapees at all. Mark Renshaw proved that he is one of the the finest lead-out men in the world when he remedied what he said was an “error” from stage four – delivering Cavendish too soon – and this time he timed it to perfection. He dropped his leader off with 240m to go and then ‘Cav’ hit the turbo. He was chased all the way to the line by former team-mates Ciolek and Boasson Hagen but they didn’t have the speed to get around the master of sprinting. It is Cavendish’s 11th stage victory in the Tour de France.
Fabian Cancellara finished 32nd in the stage and will keep the yellow jersey for another day.
His team insisted that Mark Cavendish was still the fastest man in the world despite a hiccup at the finish of stage four and in Montargis, the rider from the Isle of Man bolted ahead of all his rivals with 240 meters to go in the 187.5km stage from Epernay to claim his 11th stage victory in the Tour de France, his first in 2010. HTC-Columbia joined forces with Cervelo and Lampre to reel in the escape of the day and then Garmin-Transitions tried a sneaky move in the final three kilometers. Although it had numbers, Farrar was unable to finish off the job and he had to accept 10th place at the finish behind a group of sprinters that was chasing Cavendish all the way to the line. Tears fell as he stood on the podium a more humble man than the dominator of last year’s sprint stages. ‘Cav’ is back and he’s crying with joy…!
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