To this point, the first five stages of the Tour de France have been surprising and exciting and Mark Cavendish of Britain and Team HTC-Columbia capped off Stage 5 with a spectacular and emotional dash to the finish just 200 yards out from the line.

Every expert was doubting Cavendish could win a stage this year, although he won six stages last year. With a 23-second lead over Britain’s Geraint Thomas, Fabian Cancellara held tightly to his yellow jersey. Other notables after Stage 5, Alberto Contador, who is in ninth one minute 40 seconds off the lead and Lance Armstrong who is two minutes and 30 seconds back in 21st place.

In the Pyrenees l, both Tour de France champs will make their time up and neither is feeling any pressure for being off the pace at this point of the Tour De France. In 2010, Armstrong has already had an eventful Tour de France, crashing hard during Stage 2 but he did not receive any serious injuries aside from bumps and bruises.

From the moment the stages were announced, stage 3 was the stage all riders feared. For the first time in the Tour since 2003, stage 3 featured a cobblestone or pave’ section and none of the riders looked forward to it. Prop bets favorite, Frank Schleck was the first victim, as he fell hard in front of the peloton and broke his collarbone. Lance Armstrong fell victim to a flat tire from the rough conditions although he did not fall.