Tête à Tête

Sprinter Mark Cavendish set a record for lifetime stage wins today, and he's just in his third or fourth Tour. I still can't bring myself to like this kid. He's got such a complex, arrogant as a king one minute and crying and desperate for approval the next. Some amazing psychology there, but he channels it well--he's effin' fast, I'll give him that. Terrifying speed.

A large part of his stage wins, of course, is his lead-out man, Mark Renshaw. Renshaw's a beast when it comes to clearing a path and pulling Cav to the go line.

But in today's sprint finish, Renshaw may have taken it too far. Garmin's Julian Dean, who was towing sprinter Tyler Farrar, came in with his elbow out, as happens, and Renshaw headbutted him three times in a row. They both stayed upright, and Cav shot past. As soon as he did, Renshaw looked back, and then cut hard left, nearly sending Farrar, who was on his sprint, to the barriers.

Now, it's possible he didn't see Farrar. But in a 40-plus-MPH sprint, which is a cluster of bodies and bikes, holding a straight line is critical, and Renshaw's among the best in the business. It's a safe assumption that any move he makes in those seconds is willful and intentional. Farrar lifted a hand off his bars and put it on Renshaw to steady himself--it's a violation to take your hands off the bar during the sprint--but managed to stay upright, too.

Race officials did more than relegate Renshaw--they eighty-sixed him from the Tour. Pack up your shorts and go home. Whether it was the headbutts or cutting off Farrar is moot, I guess.

Needless to say, Renshaw's pissed, Cav's pissed, and Dean, Farrar and Garmin boss Jonathan Vaughters are thrilled.

I'm not sure where I stand on all this. I think those sprints can be chaotic as hell. The video shows Renshaw looking pretty damned aggressive, but who knows what he was thinking? He was doing his job, trying to get Cav the stage win to break the record, and he did it. But what a bittersweet stage finish for HTC-Columbia, hey?

With no Tour on the hotel TV, I had to watch a YouTube clip from Belgian television. My Flemish is a little rusty, but it sounded like the commentators were as shocked as everyone else. But then, that language always sounds a little shocked.