CYCLING - TOUR DE FRANCE:IT WAS a case of as you were for Mark Cavendish as he won his fourth stage of this year's Tour de France in Nimes yesterday, but with one difference: his margin of victory has extended to almost embarrassing proportions.
Embarrassing, that is, if you are one of his rival sprinters, Cavendish seemed almost apologetic when asked later if he had any sympathy. It took the aerial view to reveal the extent of his superiority. It showed Cavendish crossing the line with arms outstretched, an almost nonchalant expression on his face, and, about two lengths back, the rest of the field.
Behind the 23-year-old there has been a different challenger each time, and yesterday it was the turn of Robbie McEwen, the Australian who has won 12 bunch sprints in the Tour.
Four stage wins in a single Tour is not unheard of for a sprinter - Alessandro Petacchi achieved the feat in 2003, as did Mario Cipollini, on consecutive days, in 1999 - but Cavendish joins a select group, and his exploits are all the more impressive for the fact that this year's Tour has only had four true bunch sprints.
Although his victory was so decisive, yesterday's finish in Nimes looked the least straightforward of his wins. With numerous teams battling for control at the front of the peloton, which had to negotiate roundabouts and other road "furniture" on a complicated run-in, the Isle of Man rider's Columbia team struggled to give their man the kind of lead-out he has been used to. In the final kilometre he had to fend for himself, and with 500 metres to the line he looked hopelessly boxed in.
Then, however, came the familiar sight of Cavendish, having manoeuvred himself into space, emerging at the head of the peloton, legs pumping like pistons, mouth wide open, as the line drew closer. Before the stage, Allan Peiper, his team director, had said that it is as if the British sprinter "can smell the line" and that was how it appeared yesterday.
Cavendish began his press conference with a request: "I understand there's been another doping case today and, if you don't mind, I don't want to answer questions about that. I don't want somebody else to overshadow my victory again."
In fact, there was not a fourth doping case yesterday, though the fallout from Riccardo Ricco's positive test on Thursday, for a substance described as "third-generation EPO," continued.
With Moises Duenas, who tested positive for EPO 24 hours before Ricco, having been charged on Thursday with the "use and possession of plants and poisonous substances", Ricco was charged at 3pm yesterday. Both could face up to two years in prison for use of a poisonous substance, with Duenas facing a further three years for illegally importing banned products. After being released from the police station in Pamiers, where he spent Thursday night in custody, Ricco returned to Italy.
It was then announced that Italian Leonardo Piepoli, Ricco's team-mate who won Monday's Pyrenean stage, had been fired by the Saunier Duval team. Though Piepoli has failed no drugs test, both he and Ricco were sacked, said a team statement, for "a violation of the team's ethics code".
Mauro Gianetti, the Saunier Duval director, who withdrew the entire team following Ricco's positive, admitted he confronted Ricco at the start of the season. The Italian "swore on his mother's head" that he was not involved in doping activities, said Gianetti.
Ricco, meanwhile, was reported last night to have told the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport that "all the police found (in his possession) was vitamins". Asked whether he had used EPO, he said: "You'll find out in the next few days." He described his sacking as "normal, routine" and added, "I'll come back stronger."
Guardian Service
