A still-in-construction apartment complex loomed over the finishing straight of stage 4 of the Tour Colombia. “The best place to live in Zipaquirá, far from the chaos and congestion,” read a billboard advertising the new units, yours for 24 million pesos.
On Friday afternoon, the chaos and congestion were happening directly underneath those half-built towers. A bike race of any kind will always draw a crowd in this corner of the Andes, but the whole of Egan Bernal’s hometown seemed to have turned out to welcome him back, a heaving mass of humanity all along Carrera 15.
The flat run-in, of course, meant that this was a day for the sprinters rather than Bernal, but the spectators leaning over the barriers had conflicting information as to whether Mark Cavendish had made it back on after the peloton had split on the final climb. “Cavendish isn’t there, it’s for Gaviria today,” a man draped in a Colombian flag insisted to his neighbour as the bunch appeared into view, a swirl in the distance.
As the tornado drew nearer, the colours became clearer. The cyan jerseys of Cavendish’s Astana Qazaqstan team were indeed present, and their strength in numbers brought order to the chaos. First Michael Mørkøv and then Cees Bol peeled off, opening the way for Cavendish to claim victory ahead of Fernando Gaviria (Movistar).
There was a sharp left-hand turn a couple of hundred metres beyond the finish line, and Cavendish had to brake sharply to avoid riding into the waiting soigneurs and journalists. The man draped in the Colombian flag, meanwhile, sensed his opportunity. After climbing onto the barriers to shout “Cavendish! Cavendish!” at the top of his lungs, he jumped onto the road and waded his way into the celebrations.
Cavendish moved through the melee as best he could, hugging his teammates in turn as he located them, and then accepting the congratulations of Gaviria, before he was eventually swept off towards the podium.
Once the crowd dissipated, Mørkøv finally found enough room to take a swig from his recovery drink. The Dane joined Astana this winter to serve as Cavendish’s guide in the finishing straight, but on Friday, his most important work came a long way from the finish. In the frantic kilometres after the bunch fractured on the Alto Sisga, Mørkøv’s poise was key in helping the group containing Cavendish and Gaviria back to the front.
“It was quite chaotic. We were in quite a big group, but I think a lot of the guys here aren’t used to riding in…
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