Mark Cavendish was determined – perhaps even predestined – to break the record for most stage wins in the Tour de France.
Last year was supposed to be his 14th and final Tour, but the dream of ending his career with the absolute record motivated him to postpone his retirement and make another comeback.
The Manx Missile was already considered the greatest sprinter of all time, but now he has earned the prize he so coveted with his 35th victory in cycling’s biggest race in Saint Vulbas last Wednesday. It is his 165th career victory.
He will be immortalized in the history of racing after surpassing Eddy Merckx to become the greatest stage winner ever.
In a social media post, Belgian Merckx, who won the Tour five times between 1969-1974, wrote: “Congratulations Mark with this historic achievement. A good guy who broke my record on the Tour.”
Cavendish jointly holds the record for most Tour stage wins with Merckx since winning his 34th stage in 2021.
At the age of 39, he has achieved a feat previously thought impossible for any modern cyclist, let alone a sprinter, and it is a testament to the length and breadth of his successful career.
“The Tour de France is bigger than cycling. I love it, I love racing the Tour,” Cavendish said.
“Every little detail has been considered today.”
Cavendish’s love affair with the Tour began on 7 July 2008 in Chateauroux – the first of four stage wins in that edition of the race.
His breakthrough probably came in 2005 on the track, with a world title in the madison. He became known at the newly formed British Cycling Academy led by Rod Ellingworth.
But his ability to read the finish, manoeuvre into position and produce devastating accelerations have all made him a formidable contender in La Grande Boucle.
Cavendish is like ‘a fine wine’ that gets better with age
Since drawing with Belgian legend Merckx in 2021, Cavendish has had to deal with a knife attack on his head and the uncertainty of finding a new team at the age of 37.
There was also the bitter disappointment of having to abandon the Tour 12 months ago with a broken collarbone, while injuries and depression prevented him from winning a single race in 2019 and 2020.
And yet he is now in his 15th Tour, showing the confidence of a rider who was virtually unbeatable between 2008 and 2012, taking 23 stage wins, including four on the Champs-Elysees.
“Without the Tour de France, cycling wouldn’t exist,” Cavendish said in his 2023 Netflix documentary, Mark Cavendish: Never Enough.
With 35 victories from 215 completed stages, he also has a success rate of almost one in six.
It is a remarkable achievement for a rider described by his former team-mates as having a sharp tongue and a fiery temper, and by the straight-talking Vasilis Anastopoulos, who worked with Cavendish at Quick Step and is now head of performance at the rider’s current Astana Qazaqstan team, as a “difficult guy”.
Cavendish credits the Greek coach for reviving his career during their time with the Belgian Quick Step team and for playing a crucial role in his successes in 2021 and 2022 at both the Tour and Giro d’Italia.
Cavendish’s former captain Mark Renshaw is now Astana’s sporting director.
“He’s amazing. He’s like a fine wine that just keeps getting better,” Renshaw said of the sprinter.
“The team had so much confidence in him and they had that all year. We changed the team to look after him and he’s been super committed.
“I don’t know how many days he’s been with his family, but this year it hasn’t been many and that’s the kind of dedication you need.”
‘This was about much more than modern cycling’
It was striking how many riders were waiting to embrace Cavendish at the end of the 177.4 km route from Saint Jean de Maurienne to Saint Vulbas on Wednesday.
But when he struggled in the heat during a tough opening stage with more than 3,600 metres of elevation, there were doubts whether this historic victory would be possible.
An emotional Anastopoulos said: “We spent three months in Greece from April 2, believing every day. On the first day [of the Tour] He had sunstroke and we thought we had done something wrong, but he did it again.
“He was super strong at the end. He was the old Cavendish.”
Race director Tadej Pogacar said at the finish: “Unbelievable. A 35th win for Mark. I used to watch him on TV and we loved him. He came to me and said ‘don’t break my record’ – but I don’t think I can.”
In an interview with ITV 4, Cavendish’s former Team Sky teammate Peter Kennaugh also paid a glowing tribute to his childhood friend.
“You can never lose faith in Mark Cavendish. I know this will mean everything to Mark, because he is so much more than a sprinter,” Kennaugh said.
“What he achieved has not only gone down in cycling history, but also in sporting history. It’s incredible.
“He lives off people telling him he can’t do it. And he’s been through that his whole career, right up to the present day.
“This was about so much more than modern cycling and what we see every day. It was about passion, dedication and his love for the sport and the willingness to never give up.”
