Following the crash on Tuesday when Tom Veelers went down after clashing with Cavendish, today's victory of teammate Marcel Kittel was sweet - oh so sweet.
The 218 kms stage 12 took us on a picture post card ride through the French countryside. Impressive Abbeys, grand Chateaus and immaculate, designed gardens were seen throughout the course.
The course was flat - flat as a pancake as it were. A group of 5 riders broke away after 2 miles and held the lead till inside the 10kms mark.
An intermediate sprint - held at 168 kms from the start had the 5 leaders take the major points and prize money. The race was for the 6th to the 10th place - important for the Green Jersey points. The 6th place was taken by Andre Greipel followed by Peter Sagan and then Mark Cavendish. Greipel keeps chipping away at Sagan's overall lead.
The Peloton rode along assured that they will chase down the 5 leaders eventually. Which they did inside the last 10kms. This ensured that everyone in the Peloton concentrated in the chase rather than having their own ideas and breaking away.
Inside the last few kms all the teams were coming to the front with their main sprinters. Chris Froome had plenty of support from his Sky team and stayed clear of any danger. We saw Kittel, Sagan, Cavendish, Greipel and Goss all coming to the front. It was inside the last 2kms when we were all concentrating on the leaders, a massive crash took place right behind the leaders. Andre Greipel crashed and thereby lost valuable Green Jersey points to Sagan at the finish.
Cavendish was led into last km by his teammate and made a dash for the finish. He was closely followed by Kittel and Sagan. We all held our breath knowing that when Cavendish goes, there is no sprinter who can stay in touch and win.
But today Kittel had other ideas. He not only followed the wheel of Cavendish but out sprinted him to the finish. He won by half a wheel.
At the end, Chris Froome kept his Yellow Jersey and maintained the same time from his nearest rivals. Peter Sagan extended his lead for the Green Jersey and Pierre Roland kept the King of the Mountain - Polka Dot Jersey.
The Cavendish controversy has not gone away - far from it. There are rumours that certain European Race organizations are beginning to "uninvite" Mark Cavendish from participating in their races.
It was interesting to hear Marcel Kittel dedicating his victory to Tom Veelers.
And Mark Cavendish did not have a word to say about Veelers in an interview before the race.
Tomorrow is stage 13. Another almost flat race.
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