Tour de France
Mark Cavendish gives up: Record dream burst on tour
Mark Cavendish’s face contorted in pain after a fall in the Tour de France
© Thomas SAMSON / AFP
He had come to his last Tour de France to be the sole record stage winner, beating Eddy Merckx. But on Saturday Mark Cavendish had to give up.
As expected, there were no changes at the top of the overall ranking. Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard will lead through the Massif Central, 25 seconds ahead of Tadej Pogacar. The German Bora team is currently on the podium with captain Jai Hindley in third place. The Australian is 1:34 behind Vingegaard.
Mark Cavendish wants to retire at the end of the year
At Cavendish, the doctor on the tour immediately put on a bandage, and the creaky tour radio reported: “Cavendish abandon” – Cavendish gives up. Instead of continuing to hope for the 35th stage victory, the Manx missile went to the X-ray. “It breaks my heart,” wrote Marcel Kittel on Twitter. The Thuringian is the German record holder with 14 daily successes and is a TV expert on the tour.
Cavendish announced in May that he would retire at the end of the year. The ex-world champion wanted to win his 35th stage on his 14th and last tour. He would have surpassed the legend Eddy Merckx, with whom he is currently tied in first place with 34 daily successes. On Friday in Bordeaux, Cavendish was close to victory in front of his family, but a problem with the gearshift meant he had to let Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen pass him.
For his big goal, Cavendish had changed teams again before the season. Since he did not get a new contract with QuickStep and had overwhelming competition in Fabio Jakobsen, he signed with Astana. His last tour was all about the record. “I will regret not being able to enjoy the moment and the whole tour experience, but I have a job to do,” said the Isle of Man professional.
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Mark Cavendish: Successes and Falls
The sprinter’s tour history was characterized by great successes, but also by falls and setbacks. In 2014 he fell on the first stage of the Grand Départ in Yorkshire, three years later Peter Sagan took him out of the race with a dangerous maneuver in a bunch sprint. In 2018 Cavendish fell out of the time limit in the mountains, in the following two years he missed the tour and in 2020 he was close to the end of his career.
However, QuickStep boss Patrick Lefevere offered him a minimum-wage contract. Cavendish hit it and was surprisingly nominated for the 2021 tour due to Irish Sam Bennett’s poor form. There the Briton amazed as in the best of times, winning four stages and the green jersey. At the end of May he won the last stage of the Giro and increased his winnings to 162 successes. It is questionable whether more will be added.
Before the first rest day, there is another spectacle. On Sunday, the legendary Puy de Dôme will be climbed again for the first time in 35 years, when Rolf Gölz took second place behind the Dane Johnny Weitz. His compatriot Vingegaard will try to distance Pogacar. The last 4.5 kilometers in particular offer the opportunity to do so, with an average incline of twelve percent.