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Cadel Evans grateful for missing 'carnage'

CADEL Evans described the last day of the Tour de France in Brittany as “utter carnage” as riders got caught out in the prevailing crosswinds.

CADEL Evans described the last day of the Tour de France in Brittany as “utter carnage” as riders got caught out in the prevailing crosswinds.

Very few teams were spared on the narrow winding coastal roads in the 165km fifth stage from Carhaix to Frehel.

Evans, who finished the day second overall, still one second behind Thor Hushovd in yellow, and avoided the mishaps said: “It was really windy, with narrow, winding roads,” said Evans, who fractured an elbow early in last year's race.

“Hearing the constant crash at the back over (race) radio was unnerving to say the least.

“Our goal was just to stay out of trouble and thanks to Burgie (Marcus Burghardt), Mickey (Manuel Quinziato) and Giorgio's (George Hincapie) classics experience, we managed to.

“After some of the stories I heard about the stage, getting through unscathed was already something.

“I am glad to hear they threw the photographer's motorbike out of the Tour.

“I heard they dragged young Nicki Sorensen's bike 400m.”

The stage into Cap Frehel was won by HTC-Highroad's Mark Cavendish, 16th win at the Tour de France.

Cavendish's win, his fifth of the season, came in a hotly disputed bunch sprint that saw him edge out Belgium's Philippe Gilbert and Spain's Jose Joaquin Rojas.

“I'm just passionate about my sport, I love to win and the team gave it everything today to make sure I could get to the line first,” Cavendish said.

“There are a lot of difficult finishes this year and not so many bunch sprints, so I had to make sure I got this one, I had to be resilient.

“On top of that I've had some difficult starts to the big Tours, but it's not something for me to get obsessed with.’’

Team RadioShack's Jani Brajkovic saw his Tour aspirations come crashing down, appearing to be momentarily knocked out.

He was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Guingamp where X-rays revealed a broken collarbone and concussion.

“I don't remember anything of the crash,” said Brajkovic, the Slovenian time trial champion.

“I wasn't aware of where I was and which race I was in. Nothing.

“My entire year was focussed on this Tour de France.”

Team-mates Levi Leipheimer and Yarslav Popovych also crashed suffering wrist injuries.

Leipheimer sustained lacerations to his left wrist, while Popovych was taken to a hospital at Saint-Brieuc at the end of the stage and was later cleared of any broken bones.

Both are expected to start today's sixth stage from Dian to Lisieux.

Other major casualties included the big four of Quick Step in Tom Boone, Gert Steegmans, Gerald Ciolek and Addy Engels, along with Alberto Contador of Saxo Bank-Sungard.

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/cycling/cadel-evans-grateful-for-missing-carnage/news-story/9f4d5a318d3dd883afba1f51508222be