HIS team was unable to get the stage win that they had been hoping for, but the racing kilometres Mark Renshaw got in his legs at the Tour of California were valuable for Dimension Data.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It was Renshaw’s second tour since having surgery to rectify a sinus issue, while his team-mate and lead sprinter Mark Cavendish was also working back to fitness after injury.
Renshaw had been hoping to help Cavendish to add to his 10 prior Tour of California stage wins and while that did not happen, that the pair got through the seven days was a positive.
“While it wasn’t an event that saw us on a podium, there were some positives in that some riders who clearly needed time racing, got that,” Dimension Data head of performance Rolf Aldag said.
The fifth stage was one in which Renshaw’s team was hoping to be in the mix given it was expected to be decided by a bunch sprint.
While that was indeed the case in the 176.5km haul from Stockton to Elk Grove, bad luck in the closing kilometres meant Renshaw and Cavendish did not get in a position for that final dash to the line.
Firstly, with 10km to go, contact from other riders in the peloton damaged Cavendish’s wheel, which had to be replaced.
After working hard to make up the ground lost in that chase, a crash 3km from the finish left Renshaw and team-mate Julien Vermote on the ground and saw Cavendish unable to work his way to the front of peloton to contest the sprint.
In the end Fernando Gaviria won the bunch sprint for his second stage win of this year’s tour, Cavendish given the same time of 4:04.34 but placing 35th.
Renshaw was not injured in the crash and ended up crossing the line 4:20 later.
“Yeah, it was a bad day,” Renshaw told Cyclingnews.
“Cav destroyed a wheel and had to change it. He had to get back on, and as soon as he got back on, all the guys went down there on the left.
“I didn't really see what happened, but Julien Vermote and I had nowhere to go and ended up on the deck. Somehow Cav got around it, but that was it. The day was over.”
The flat final stage was another chance for Dimension Data to feature in the bunch sprint, but again it was Gaviria who took the honours.
He covered the 143km leg around Sacramento in 3:07.39, with Cavendish (45th) and Renshaw (57th) given the same time as they finished as part of the lead group.
The tour’s overall winner was Team Sky’s Egan Bernal, who set up his victory by taking the honours on stage six.
Renshaw’s next assignment as he builds towards the Tour de France is likely to be the Tour of Slovenia from June 13-17.
