The long climb to the top of the extinct Puy-de-Dome volcano in central France, which took place before a short rest, turned out to be full of drama. As the peloton had to make it through the final third of the 182km course, famed British sprinter Mark Cavendish caught a wheel on one of his rivals and went down, breaking his collarbone. This is a typical cyclist injury. The 38-year-old Kev, from Astana, withdrew from the last Big Loop of his career and failed to become the sole leader in the number of Tour de France stage wins. Mark and Belgian legend Eddy Merckx, who turned 78 in June, have 34 “wins.”
Closer to the end of the race, there was a lot of tension and excitement. It would seem that the American Matteo Jorgenson, who confidently led in the last kilometers of the ascent, lost steam and literally crawled to the finish line, falling outside the top three, fourth. Due to the most powerful breakthrough, one of the three Canadians among the participants of this tour, 36-year-old Michael Woods, won. This is his first hit of its kind on the “Great Loop”. Only two road racers from a country where the most popular sport is ice hockey have done this before.
