Counted out after going down in a crash 12 miles from the finish, Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen won his 12th Tour de France stage in Canterbury on Sunday.
The last we saw of the sprinter, until he popped out of the crowd at the finish, McEwen was looking at his right wrist as his Predictor-Lotto teammates got him back into the rear of the peloton about 4 miles from the end.
Quick-Step and Lampre led the peloton onto the streets of Canterbury, where Milram took over the train for Erik Zabel. There wasn't much cooperation among the teams, though, allowing Barloworld's Robert Hunter to jump out of the pack.
He appeared to be headed to victory until McEwen emerged out of nowhere on the right side and won the stage by a bike length.
Meanwhile, prologue winner Fabian Cancellera held the overall lead and will race in the yellow jersey for the second day on Monday when the peloton crosses the English Channel to start in Dunkirk.
In an interview after the race, McEwen, 35, said he got back in the race by “keeping me head together.”
McEwen said he had slowed down to nearly a stop in the accident when another cyclist hit him from behind, knocking him over his handlebars. He hurt his right wrist and leg in the fall. “It was bloody killing me,” he said.
But he was inspired by the work of his Predictor-Lotto teammates who got him back into the pack, and he just concentrated on winding through the bunch to arrive at the front in time for the sprint finish.
(McEwen later said that three teammates brought him up to the peloton, where Leif Hoste guided him nearly to the front of the bunch. Then he hooked up with his leadout man, US cyclist Freddy Rodriguez, who guided him to the back of the Milram and QuickStep trains, where McEwen finished matters on his own.)
McEwen first bicycled in the Tour de France in 1997, but didn't win a stage until 1999 when he rode for Rabobank. He didn't win again until 2002, when he won two stages. The 12th win ties him with Zabel for most wins by a cyclist in the Tour. Zabel was to ride in a support role for Milram's Alessandro Petacchi, but became primo when Ale-Jet was suspended for doping accusations.
(More at the Robbie McEwen website)
Crossing the finish line on Sunday just behind McEwen were Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole), Tom Boonen (QuickStep) and Sebastien Chavanal (Francaise Des Jeux).
With three Category 3 climbs on the stage from London to Canterbury, David Millar took the polka dot jersey.
With points gained along the route, there were some changes in the Top 10:
1. Fabian Cancellara (Swi), Team CSC
2. Andreas Kloden (Ger), Astana, 13 seconds behind
3. David Millar (GrBritain) Saunier Duval, 21 seconds
4. George Hincapie (US), Discovery Channel, 23 seconds
5. Bradley Wiggins (GB), Cofidis, 23 seconds
6. Vladimir Gusev (Rus), Discovery Channel, 25 seconds
7. Vladimir Karpets (Rus), Caisse D'Epargne, 25 seconds
8. Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole, 29 seconds
9.Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz), Astana, 30 seconds
10. Thomas Dekker (Neth), Rabobank, 31 seconds
US riders overall standings:
6. Hincapie, 23 seconds
28. Levi Leipheimer, 40 seconds
69. Chris Horner (Predictor Lotto), 53 seconds
73. Christian Vande Velde (Team CSC), 53 seconds
129. Freddy Rodriguez (Predictor Lotto) 1:05 behind
183. David Zabriskie (Team CSC), 2:59 behind
What happened to Zabriskie? He's there to support Carlos Sastre and other teammates, not win the Tour, but he fell 172 places in one day. He
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