Stage 18: Friday, July 23 – Salies-de-Bearn to Bordeaux (198km)

Out of the Pyrenees, heading north through Aquitaine, up to Bordeaux. On paper, it’ll be a breakaway by some non-contenders, followed by a slow reeling in, late recapture and final bunch sprint. The green jersey is still a three-horse race between leader Thor Hushovd (Cervelo), Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre), and Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia), so the sprint to the line will be competitive. Watch out also for the intermediate green jersey points available on this stage; Hushovd has shown the most hunger for bagging these so far.

A four-man break was allowed to roll off the front for their 15 minutes of fame. The gap was closely monitored by the usual HTC-Columbia and Lampre teams. Milram also took a few turns at the front, perhaps as an advertisement for the new sponsor they badly need. All three teams were aiming to launch their sprinters (Mark Cavendish, Alessandro Petacchi, and Gerald Ciolek, respectively), and set a blistering pace. TV coverage from motorcycle-cameras showed the speedos touching 70km/h (around 45mph) when the chase came on song.

The lead group began to fall apart, and three riders were caught 12km from home. This left just the Tour rookie Daniel Oss (Liquigas) alone at the front, desperately trying for the stage win. But the peloton’s pace was too much, and he was overhauled just 3.5km from the line.

The run-in then started heating up as suspected. HTC-Columbia formed a fast train, trying to prevent any attacks being launched off the front. Lampre were again present, but seemed to lose focus a couple of km from the line. Garmin also had a hand in the wind-up, but the most conspicuous presence was Sky – clearly looking to launch Edvald Boassen Hagen to a stage win, and salvage something from an underwhelming Tour performance.

Eventually, the bunch wound up for the sprint. Cavendish sat and waited, watching Petacchi like a hawk. The Italian jumped; Cavendish reacted, pushed the button, and blew everyone out of the water. In a bunch-sprint situation 200m from the finishing line, the Manxman is literally unbeatable. Cav rolled over for the stage win – his fourth of this year’s Tour – making it look like child’s play. The big New Zealander Julian Deane (Garmin-Transitions) came in with a fine second, followed over by Petacchi. Thor Hushovd was only able to manage 14th place, in a finish where every man and his brother wanted to give it a shot.

No change, of course, in the overall yellow jersey competition. Alberto Contador (Astana) leads Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) by 8 seconds, with Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) 3′32 back, Denis Menchov (Rabobank) at 3′53, and Jurgen van den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) at 5′27.

The green jersey competition will go right down to the wire. The only remaining points available are at two intermediate sprints in Paris, and of course those for the stage win on the Champs-Elysees. Therefore, a competitive final stage is in prospect. Petacchi seems perhaps the most likely, given that Hushovd’s flat-out sprint is not what it used to be. But Cavendish could sneak the green jersey out from under their noses with a stage win, and with the other two contenders more than 6 or so places back.

Leader board after this stage:

Overall GC
Alberto Contador (Astana)

Points
Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre)

King of the Mountains
WINNER – Anthony Charteau (Bbox Bouygues Telecom)

Young Rider
Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank)

Tomorrow’s stage is the individual time-trial of 52km from Bordeaux to Pauillac, alongside some of the world’s finest vineyards. The focus shifts to the top ten placings. Will Contador blow Schleck away as convincingly as past form would suggest, or has the Luxembourgeois improved in the time-trial discipline? Who will take 3rd place on the podium in Paris – Sanchez or Menchov? And will Bradley Wiggins look for Sky’s souvenir stage win?