📸 Disappointment on Cavendish's face: sprinter falls in Acht van Chaam and has to forget about new bathroom

Chaam held its breath for a moment on Wednesday evening. A genuine supersprint was about to take place, with a breakaway group that had escaped from the peloton. But then: a crash in the final corner. Mike Teunissen, Danny van Poppel, and Mark Cavendish were in that breakaway group. And it was the biggest name among the thirty participants, Cavendish, who fell...

"There goes Mike Teunissen," shouts speaker Laurens van de Klundert through the streets of Brabant's Chaam. Teunissen, who was rewarded for his performance in the Tour de France two weeks ago, attempts a late attack to leave sprinters Van Poppel and Cavendish behind, right before the final corner.

Van Poppel, like in the Tour, also without a sprinter in Chaam's post-Tour criterium, was keen on the supersprint. He immediately latched onto Teunissen's wheel. The speed increased, with Cavendish in a perfect position in third. Just one more corner, and he could take home the supersprint (though it was never announced exactly what they were sprinting for, but still...).

Chaam eagerly awaits the second supersprint but sees Cav fall

The long, wide finishing straight is perfect for creating an exciting sprint. And with Teunissen (Intermarché-Wanty) and Van Poppel (Red Bull-BORA), Cav (Astana Qazaqstan) had two great competitors to get the crowd on their feet. That’s what eventually happened, but for a different reason.

The Manx Missile took the final corner in third place. With the cocktail bar on the left and the VIP tent on the right, the paving stones were exchanged for the asphalt of Dorpsstraat. Normally, it’s not a dangerous corner around the church of Chaam, but it is a tricky one: it has a slightly different approach compared to the other corners on the Acht van Chaam course.

It wasn’t slippery, but due to a small curb between the paving stones and the asphalt, followed by a manhole cover in the middle of the road, extra caution was needed at high speeds. Because of this factor, the riders lean more sharply than usual. This is where it went wrong for the now 35-time stage winner of the Tour de France.

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In the busiest corner of the Acht van Chaam, things went wrong for Cavendish

He slid out, heading towards the barriers. "Ooooooh, crash Mark Cavendish," came immediately from the speakers around the course. It wasn’t a long slide; the Brit came to a stop fairly quickly on the Brabant road. His expression spoke volumes. Instead of the expected outburst of swearing, there was a look of disappointment on the 39-year-old sportsman's face. He must have thought: why does this have to happen to me, in his final races as a professional cyclist?

It couldn't have been due to inexperience after seventeen years as a pro cyclist, but a bit of eagerness to win the second supersprint of the Acht van Chaam can't be ruled out. Teunissen and Van Poppel were largely unaware of the crash: they were left to battle it out for who would get a new bathroom, kitchen, or sofa. The rest of the leading group had to slam on the brakes to avoid riding over Sir Mark Simon Cavendish.

A rider from the Universe Cycling Team had the toughest job of avoiding Cavendish's bike, arm, or leg. This cyclist neatly chose the barriers that appeared not far behind Cav. Jens Adams, a cyclocross rider, also managed to stay upright with a lot of skill and effort, avoiding causing more problems for the 2011 world champion.

Cavendish could laugh about it but did apologize to his colleagues

That was a good thing. The peloton, which Cavendish quickly rejoined, was headed towards the front of the race. Teunissen and Van Poppel chatted with a few witnesses of the crash, and everything came back together. Cav was already smiling again, as the spectators along the road noticed. When Frank van den Broek (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL), who had just completed his first but very commendable Tour de France, went off solo, Cavendish returned to the front of the peloton.

"All good, Cav?" several riders asked. "Sorry guys," was the very sincere and brief response from the most successful Tour rider ever. The sprinter seemed to quickly forget his crash because, in the five laps that followed, Cavendish kept pushing through the corners, especially in that notorious last corner where he had previously gone down.

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Mass sprint in Chaam: Cavendish vs. Girmay and Kooij

The very last passages went smoothly for the pro peloton and Cavendish in particular. The sprint ace was perfectly launched by his teammate and lead-out Cees Bol, sprinting to his first - and last - victory in Chaam. Green jersey winner Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) finished second, with Olav Kooij (Visma | Lease a Bike) taking third place.

As for myself, I ended up outside the top ten, although I did have success in the second supersprint. After having a clear view of Mr. Cavendish's crash, then slamming on the brakes to avoid colliding with him and the two riders between us, I still managed to sprint from a standstill to third place. And successfully. So, here's a small request to the organizers: where can I collect my piece of bathroom, kitchen, or sofa?