Tour de France - Stage 5

Cavendish will look to take green back from Sagan
as the race goes into three straight flat stages
that should suit the more pure sprinters.



Bad luck early for Cav's teammate Chris Froome as he flats,
but he gets back to the peloton without problems.



Like normal the breakaway takes the first few spots from the sprint point, leaving 8th place up for grabs by the time the peloton rolls through.



And it's Bennati that takes the maximum points left beating Cavendish,
and he is starting to turn heads early in this first week.
Sagan takes fourth out of the peloton as Farrar also beats he to the line.
Tally up the points and Sagan and Cavendish
are virtually tied at 64 points!



So far no successful breakaways and today is no different.



A lot of tricky turns as the sprinters gear up for finish.



And with a bit of luck Peter Sagan finds himself on
Cavendish's wheel with 3kms to go.



It's a single train heading to the finish, Cavendish has his Sky boys on the front with Sagan, Goss, Farrar, Boonen, and Hushovd in that order behind him.



Eisel peels off the front with 2kms to go leaving EBH to lead Cavendish
and the rest of the sprinters to line.
I can't see how Cav could lose this after a perfect lead out.



With Goss making his move with 1200 meters to go,
Mark Cavendish is forced to launch earlier then expected ...



But wait before we can crown a winner there is
a crash at the back of the peloton!
Really only two big names going down in Haimar Zubeldia and John Gadret.



Cavendish is really struggling to match Goss,
while Hushovd is coming from behind with a lot of speed.



As Cavendish surprisingly fades,
Hushovd surges to the front with Farrar going around Goss.
Sagan is right in the mix, and also blocking in Boonen at the same time.



The God of Thunder strikes with a great come from behind sprint!
Farrar shows good speed as well for 2nd and again Bennati
is right up there in great form to take the last podium spot.
Sagan comes in 4th beating out Mathew Goss
and with the Cavendish failure he maintains the green jersey!

Tour de France - Stage 6

The flat stages roll on as Sagan tries to defend green.



Just 4 riders get clear so there will be more points available at the sprint point.



And that battle goes to the man nobody had on their radar at the start of the tour, Daniele Bennati. Farrar, Sagan, and then Cavendish are the next placings.



It's a pretty boring and traditional sprint stage
as the breakaway is pulled back with 10kms to go.



So lets jump to the sprint.



Cavendish gets the best leadout with
Farrar, Feillu, Goss, and then Sagan chasing for his back wheel.



And Cavendish is overtaken by Romain Feillu! What a sprint from him.
Farrar 3rd, and with Sagan finishing 4th
he ties Cavendish with the points lead at 125 points.
Matty Goss rounds out the top 5.

Tour de France - Stage 7

After 6 stages Sagan is deadlocked with Cavendish on 125 points,
who will take the lead outright after stage number 7?



After what seemed like a dozen attempts at the morning breakaway,
it eventually settles on one guy getting away; Geoffroy Lequatre.



But he never had to much of a gap so by the sprint point Bennati makes the catch as he wins the sprint. Lequatre 2nd, Sagan 3rd, Farrar 4th,
and Cavendish in 5th. Is Mark struggling or just saving energy for the finish?



With nobody up the road now Liquigas sends Damiano Caruso.



Then a big scare for the team as Nibali has a flat with 25kms to go!
But as you can see he is able to ride himself back into the peloton.



Caruso gives his all but Team Sky easily brings him back.



So we go to the sprint where Sagan has problems finding a wheel to stick to and wastes a lot of energy just making his way to the front.



Cavendish on the other hand gets another perfect lead out from EBH,
Bennati and Farrar are trying to sneak up behind him.



And after a punch into the Sky ( ) Cavendish takes the stage.



Sagan has a really rough day and is lucky just to finish 7th.
He slips to 3rd in points as Bennati moves into 2nd after a second today.