Cav not happy. Cavendish hates to lose, and his anger was all too evident on Thursday as a crash 34km from the finish left him playing catch-up with the peloton, seriously hampering his chances of a second consecutive stage win. When he got back to the Omega Pharma team bus at the end of the stage, Cavendish was livid and, as a scrum of journalists gathered outside, the Manxman’s screaming could clearly be heard. “I don’t want to use this ******* bike! What the **** is wrong this bike!” he said, furious at seeing his chance of a second consecutive stage win pass him by. Cavendish started the stage on a limited edition Specialized Venge outfitted with brand new SRAM HydroR hydraulic rim brakes and Zipp wheels. It was around half an hour later before he emerged to face the media, although the official race medical report stated that he was being tended to by the team doctor for minor injuries suffered during his fall. “I was going around a roundabout and it was very tight,” Cavendish said calmly. “My front wheel went, but I didn’t necessarily lose the sprint because of that. Cavendish said the chase was a factor in missing victory, but said Greipel was at his best on Thursday.
