Frustrated sprinters hope to shine

CHOLET, France (Reuters) - Sprinters will try to seize their chance of a mass finish denied them since the start of the Tour de France last weekend, during Wednesday's fifth and longest stage.

The 232-km ride from Cholet to Chateauroux is flat and will make it hard for attackers to take the bunch off-guard.

The strongest finishers wasted a chance in the third stage to Nantes, when four men broke and held the bunch at bay until the final stretch, preventing a mass finish.

Australian Robbie McEwen, a three-times winner of the points classification green jersey, gifted Briton Mark Cavendish or three-times world champion Oscar Freire of Spain will certainly ask their teams to keep a close watch on break attempts to take their share of the cake at last.

"I would be a little bit disappointed if I did not win a stage on this Tour," said Cavendish, the most successful sprinter this season to take part in the Tour.

If it is any indication of the strength of the last stretch specialists, McEwen won the sprint behind the four escapees in Nantes and the Australian will certainly be eager to add a 13th stage win to his Tour tally.

This time, sprinters can count on the help of the Gerolsteiner team of Tour leader Stefan Schumacher, who made it clear he did not expect to retain his yellow jersey in the next stage to the ski resort of Super-Besse.

"I'm sure my Gerolsteiner team mates can help me keep the jersey tomorrow but in the sixth stage to Super-Besse, it'll be very difficult with strong riders like Kirchen so close to me," he said.

(Reporting by Francois Thomazeau, editing by Clare Lovell)