Difference in mentality. When in certain sports, we make boxes for superfluous records – who talked about football? – in the world of cycling, we are not quite on the same wavelength. Mark Cavendish, for example, is one win away from breaking legend Eddy Merckx’s Tour de France stage win record. And the Briton gives the impression of having nothing to shake. “It’s definitely not going to change my life,” Cavendish said in an interview with the Italian daily. Gazzetta Dello Sport, released Wednesday.
” I’m not going to [sur le Tour] to just get one more win, but to get as many as possible,” continued the Briton, who will turn 38 in May, “one more win would satisfy anyone else, but me, when I win a step, I immediately start thinking about the next one. »
A small victory will suffice
This summer, a single success would allow him to seize the record number of victories. His were almost all won in the sprint, while Merckx had won on all terrains, flat, mountain and time trial.
“What I want, explains Cavendish, is to be a professional rider and win as long as possible. When you’re like that, you need goals to motivate yourself (…) At the start of my career, I was asked what I wanted. I replied that if there was a book with all the greatest cyclists, I wanted to be in it, no matter where”.
Cavendish, who rides for the Astana team, is entered in the Tirreno-Adriatico this week, but has not yet found himself in a position to win a stage.