This.
Originally Posted by
TiHabanero
I was watching the sprint unfold and saw a few problems with Cav's positioning, his lead out man, and his response time. I also observed two hesitations as if he was avoiding the rear wheel of Wout.
I watched the finish several times, from various camera angles, and listened to the commentary from Chris Horner, Lanterne Rouge, Bob Roll and others. Cavendish didn't take a dive or give away the win.
From the distorted perspective of a camera with telephoto lens facing the front of the finish, it appeared that Cav stopped pedaling for a split second. That might give the illusion that he "let" van Aert win. But it's an illusion.
When viewed from overhead, rather than following his leadout man, Cav gambled on a different line and lost. He admitted this afterward and didn't blame anyone but himself.
By following van Aert and his leadout man Philipsen, Cav got boxed in very briefly. It didn't appear to be deliberate. Philipsen was just doing his job to bring his man into the fnish.
There was a split second when Philipsen, van Aert, or both veered slightly left for a split second into Cav's line. It did not appear to be deliberate, Cav didn't complain and nobody called an infraction. It was very subtle and practically inconsequential compared with the usual shoulder bumping finish guys like Cavendish, Sagan, Ewan and other aggressive sprinters are accustomed to.
But that's the moment when Cav eased up off the pedals for just a moment.
It's possible a younger, more reckless Cavendish would have gone ahead and squirted through that slightly narrowed gap between van Aert and the fence. But after several crashes and serious injuries, Cav, perhaps subconsciously, blinked, flinched, and let it go. Anyone who's been injured in a crash can relate.
Another factor was the revised finish of the final crit type stage. For rider safety the 2021 final stage sprint was extended a couple hundred yards. Cavendish's muscle memory may have been timed for the shorter sprint. His strength is the short, explosive final sprint that depends on drafting until the last possible moment, then slipping around. That leadout train setup never happened since he gambled on using van Aert and Philipsen instead of his own leadout man.
But van Aert is a stronger extended sprinter, started pushing ahead sooner and never faded. He had the better engine for this particular finish.
TBH, it wouldn't matter to me whether Cavendish beat or equaled the Merckx stage win record. What's really impressive is how well Cav did despite the odds, after years of declining health and performance, and not even being considered for the 2021 TdF until the last moment after Bennett couldn't race. Cav his team put on a clinic in leadout train perfection several times. He got the green jersey. Heck of an accomplishment even if he retires now or can't reach this level of performance again. He was a big part of a Tour that turned out to be much more exciting than I'd expected before the race start.