Читать книгу Etape. The untold stories of the Tour de France’s defining stages онлайн

93 страница из 104

‘At 750 metres to go, I did this calculation,’ says Cavendish. ‘I used Edvald to slingshot to the break; I did it in a split second. I knew, if I go now … I timed it perfectly. I didn’t sprint; I got my speed up; into the slipstream; slingshot off. Then [Luca] Paolini was there; I slingshotted off him; then there were three more. Then I started sprinting. I was sprinting for a good while, 350 metres, but I had that much energy to spare, because, contrary to popular belief, sprinters aren’t lazy until 200 metres [to go]. The amount of muscle damage you do in a bunch sprint is … You can’t recover from that muscle damage, you know. I hadn’t done much sprinting that Tour. I had fire in my eyes. I saw it and I just went.’

He has fire in his eyes now, as he relives it. His heart might be racing, as it was when he caught and passed the Spaniard, Luis León Sánchez, in the finishing straight in Brive. He settles back in his chair. He lifts a hand to his mouth. His brow furrows: not an unfamiliar sight. It’s difficult to tell if he is still thinking or if he is allowing himself to become pissed off, again, as he reflects on his 2012 Tour with Team Sky, when he was made to feel like a bit-part player: a luxury in a team built around Wiggins.