Echelons are like falling through ice, you have five seconds to make it or it’s all over

The quote above belongs to Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) after he earned a fine victory on stage 13 of the Tour de France.

The Manx Missile had seen his dominance in the sprints halted by Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano), who had secured his third stage victory of the Tour the previous day.

But with crosswinds wreaking havoc in the peloton on a largely flat stage, Cavendish proved he is more than just a quick man in the final straight.

With GC contender Alberto Contador (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) sensing his opportunity to cut some of leader Chris Froome’s (Team Sky) deficit, El Pistolero’s Saxo-Tinkoff team dropped the hammer to break clear in the crosswinds.

Froome did not make the split, but Cavendish was made of sharper stuff – the Manxman sensed what was unfolding and scurried across just in time to become the last man to join the leading group before they shot clear at the front.

Once there, and with Peter Sagan (Cannondale) the only other fast finisher present, the end result was never in doubt and Cav eased to his 25th career victory in cycling’s greatest race.