Video-Report-Results: Win number 3 for Cavendish

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Britain’s Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma Quickstep wins his third stage this year in Qatar and his fourth in 2013

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It was a good stage for the Brits with Adam Blythe fourth and Luke Rowe 5th behind Cavendish. The race came down to a bunch kick after a move by three riders after a mid race sprint when Cav’s former chief lieutenant  Bernie Eisel opted to continue his attack with Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing), the duo building up a 30-second lead despite Niki Terpstra doing little as he was there to cover the move on behalf of Cav’s team, Omega Pharma – Quick-Step.

| Win Number 1 for Cavendish in Qatar | Win Number 2 for Cavendish in Qatar |

Video of the final few kilometres

BMC Racing Team Assistant Director Jackson Stewart said “the guys wanted to to do something because they knew from last year that the circuit was hard. Unfortunately, today the wind was lighter.” Phinney and Sky Procycling’s Bernhard Eisel quickly gained 25 seconds, but with the third rider in the move – Niki Terpstra – being a teammate of Cavendish’s, their escape only lasted 10 km before Cavendish did the business for Quickstep in the sprint.

070213 OPQS-Qatar Stage 5-Cavendish arrival Tim De Waele

Win number three by Cavendish. Photo:  OPQS/Tim de Waele

Cavendish extended his GC lead by first winning a second intermediate sprint earlier in the stage, and then it was up to the Quickstep team to bring breaks back and guide him to a potential “threepeat.” Quickstep  had the entire team in command of the front inside the final 10km. They guided Cavendish up the left side inside 5km, and with 3km to go, riders like Guillaume Van Keirsbulck, Matteo Trentin and Zdenek Stybar were all over the front. Iljo Keisse, Martin Velits, and Stijn Vandenbergh were also in support of the Manx Missile.

Cavendish still had three riders guiding him inside the final kilometre. Niki Terpstra was his last man standing, and, despite other lead outs trying their best to establish better position, Terpstra gave it everything and provided Cavendish an ideal set up to accelerate for the victory and extend his GC lead to 15 seconds.Yauheni Hutarovich (AG2R La Mondiale) was 2nd, and Aidis Kruopis (Orica GreenEDGE) placed 3rd.

“The team did this after riding for me the whole day,” Cavendish said of the great leadout work by his teammates. “The last two days of course we wanted the big commitment, but we really got out the unit today. We just rode incredible as a unit.” Cavendish said the race was not as easy as it looked.

“Even mild winds here on this circuit causes some problems,” Cavendish said. “We knew it would be stressful today. It caused a few splits but we always had five or six guys riding for me. The protection was spot on. As for my spot in the final, we really kept together. Some other teams tried to take over — I think they got some confidence in the last few days. But my entire team came to me in the last minute and we just went.”

070213 OPQS-Qatar stage 5-cavendish podium Tim De Waele

An overall victory is now on the cards for the Isle of Man Missile on a mission in the Middle East. Photo:  OPQS/Tim de Waele

Cavendish also dedicated the victory to OPQS owner Zdenek Bakala for his birthday! “We knew if we got through today it would be easy tomorrow,” Cavendish said of the GC lead. “Also, it’s Zdenek Bakala’s birthday today. What’s better than you getting a victory from the team? It’s a great birthday gift for him I think.

Cav wasn’t the British rider getting stuck in.  Adam Blythe was 4th for BMC. “The guys did a good job of positioning me, but I lost a little bit with the chaos,” said the Sheffield rider afterwards. “Greg (Van Avermaet) brought me to the front with a kilometer to go and I started my sprint at 350 meters. I was just trying to pass as many people and hold on.”

With a day to go, Cavendish leads a host of BMC Racing Team riders: former race leader Brent Bookwalter is second overall at 15 seconds, Phinney is third at 20 seconds and Blythe is fourth at 22 seconds. Phinney held onto the best young rider jersey.

2013_Qatar_Stage5_Cav_ASO

Tight finish but Cav still wins. Photo: ©ASO/B.Bade

Stage 5

1. Mark Cavendish Omega Pharma-Quick Step 3:11:11
2. Yauheni Hutarovich Ag2r La Mondiale
3. Aidis Kruopis Orica Greenedge
4. Adam Blythe Bmc Racing Team
5. Luke Rowe Sky Procycling
6. John Degenkolb Team Argos-Shimano
7. Alexander Kristoff Katusha Team
8. Nacer Bouhanni Fdj
9. Heinrich Haussler IAM Cycling
10. Roger Kluge Team Netapp-Endura

47. Zakkari Dempster Team Netapp-Endura
49. Geraint Thomas Sky Procycling
60. Ian Stannard Sky Procycling
77. Paul Voss Team Netapp-Endura
97. Russell Downing Team Netapp-Endura @ 21
109. Matt Brammeier Champion System @ 37
110. Stephen Cummings Bmc Racing Team @ 47

Overall
1. Mark Cavendish Omega Pharma-Quick Step 13:30:59
2. Brent Bookwalter Bmc Racing Team @ :15
3. Taylor Phinney Bmc Racing Team @ 20
4. Adam Blythe Bmc Racing Team @ 22
5. Bernhard Eisel Sky Procycling @ 24
6. Greg Van Avermaet Bmc Racing Team @ 25
7. Michael Schär Bmc Racing Team @ 25
8. Edvald Boasson Hagen Sky Procycling @ 29
9. Luke Rowe Sky Procycling @ 30
10. Geraint Thomas Sky Procycling @ 30

 

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