STAGE 5: HTC-Highroad's Mark Renshaw was victorious today in stage five of the Tour of Britain after pulling ahead of team mate, Mark Cavendish in a sprint finish. After a difficult stage with several tough climbs, the HTC-Highroad sprinters took the first two spots on the podium in the downhill finish.

"We started out with a thirteen rider break today," said sport director, Allan Peiper, "They had a maximum gap of six and a half minutes, and a few of the main contenders for the GC were up there working hard."

"Rabobank did a lot of work to reel them in but cracked toward the end, and with the help of a few more teams we were able to bring the break back a bit."

"Somewhere between thirty and forty kilometers to go the break started attacking and fell apart, and by twenty to go, the peloton was back together with our boys up front."

"The guys did a great job controlling the front until Bernie [Eisel] got a flat. The roads were extremely narrow and without radios it took too long for us to get a car to him, so he was effectively out of the race."

"On the final kilometer, Renshaw was piloting Cavendish perfectly for the win," Peiper continued, "But in the last corner, Cav backed off and Renshaw came out of it in the lead, so he hammered toward the line and finished just ahead of Cavendish."

This is Mark Renshaw's third win of the season after his stage four and overall wins in the Tour of Qatar. The team continues on to stage six tomorrow, with Cavendish just one point down in the points competition. This is the one hundred and twelfth win for HTC-Highroad in 2011.   

STAGE ONE: Team HTC-Highroad took it's five hundredth win since 2008 when Mark Cavendish dominated the sprint finish of the opening stage of the Tour of Britain on Sunday, after a flawless leadout from team mate Mark Renshaw. The one hundred and seventy kilometers from Peebles to Dumfries was slower than than anticipated due to weather conditions, but the team endured to put Cavendish ahead for the win in his home country.

"The whole team is very motivated for this race," said sport director, Allan Peiper, "Mark [Cavendish] in particular riding in Britain."

"It was a really wet stage. Rain going through the hills past Peebles punished us all the way to the finish, just inside the Scottish border."

"Two riders took of at the beginning and kept a gap with a maximum of four and a half minutes for almost the whole stage."

"Our boys controlled the front and worked with Team Sky to reel in the break, which they did at about fifteen kilometers to go."

"On the last corner, Renshaw let two RaboBank riders go ahead- they were going into it really fast and the wind was really strong, so he played it safe thinking they'd crash." Peiper continued, "When they made it out ok, Renshaw pulled them in and sent Cavendish across the line ahead of him."

"[Lars] Bak, [Bernhard] Eisel and all the guys did a great job keeping Renshaw and Cav up front for the whole stage, it was a very impressive ride."

The weather coming in for stage two on Monday is predicted to be far worse. The profile itself is "...not too hard," said Peiper, "But assuming it's safe enough to ride at all, there will most likely be a strong side wind on the coast toward the end."

"On a good day we can control the peloton, but never the weather."  

"It's fantastic to have taken the five hundredth win today with such a performance, we are all very proud."  

 HTC-Highroad for the Tour of Britain: Lars Bak [Den] Matt Brammeier [Ire] Mark Cavendish [GB] Bernhard Eisel [Aut] Alex Rasmussen [Den] Mark Renshaw [Aus]  

PREVIEW:  HTC-Highroad returns to defend their title at the Tour of Britain after Michal Albasini's overall victory in 2010. Sprinters will be crucial for several stages, and with an elite squad of six riders, HTC-Highroad is well prepared.

"We're expecting a lot of bunch sprint finishes in Britain," said sport director Brian Holm, "So we've got some good sprinters here like Mark [Cavendish], Renshaw and Rasmussen."

"We've got options for the GC as well, I expect to see Lars Bak and Matt Brammeier in contention."

"With these smaller races it's not too complicated as far as strategy. If we can get a few riders away in a break on the hilly stages, then we'll do so. And the rest will try to keep control."

"We were very successful last year, and we've learned the value of fielding solid time triallists at this race. We should be pretty well equipped for each stage."

"Cavendish is particularly motivated to perform on his home soil, but all of our squad this year is eager to keep the title. We are very close to the five hundred wins mark since 2008, we hope to reach it here in Britain."