HTC Stage 5 Win in le Tour de France

mark cavendish 100708 Tour de france win Stage 5

A day after smashing his bike to the ground in a fit of frustration after losing yet another Tour de France sprint stage, Mark Cavendish found redemption Thursday at the end of the 116.5-mile Stage 5 from Epernay to Montargis.

The 24-year-old Cavendish, whose Columbia-HTC teammates led him out perfectly through the tricky finish — where the road narrows and roundabouts suddenly appear — won in 4 hours, 30.50 minutes.

Another American team, Garmin-Transitions, was also at the front of the sprint pack, trying to sneak out an emotional victory for Tyler Farrar, who is riding with a broken bone in his wrist. But it was the emotional Cavendish who stood up in the saddle at the end and who was sobbing on the podium to receive kisses and hugs from the award presenters.