And suddenly, Mark Cavendish appeared, from the right wing of this pack of hungry sprinters drawn to the finish line at the Quai Louis-XVIII. So our dream machine went into a panic… Thirteen years after winning the last stage of the Tour de France judged in Bordeaux before this Friday, the “Cav” was going to enter the history of the greatest race in the world, thanks to a 35th victory. At 38, for the final season of his sublime career, the Briton was finally going to unclamp the legend Eddy Merckx, with whom he shares the record of 34 bouquets since the Tour 2021, an auspicious edition with four successes for the one who was then playing at the Quick-Step.
But the era is no longer romantic. If the veteran of Astana Qazaqstan, still engulfed in the mass under the red flame, managed to erase Biniam Girmay, finally 3rd, in his crazy attack, Jasper Philipsen felt the blow. While his team Alpecin-Deceuninck, the exemplary Mathieu Van der Poel in the lead, had as usual chewed up the job for him until then, the Belgian took care of the rest.
He took the wheel of his 13-year-old eldest, before mercilessly dropping him a few dozen meters from the line to win for the third time in this Tour, after Bayonne and Nogaro. Cavendish finished 6th Monday in the Basque Country, and 5th Tuesday in the Gers.
“I was in a good position, thanks to Cees Bol [son coéquipier]who looks like an assassin, with his way of crossing the peloton, rewinds the (almost) hero of the day, relayed by Cyclism’Actu. Maybe I was a little too far, but at least I had the right wheels. I went there earlier than I wanted to, but it was the same place as in 2010 [lors de sa victoire à Bordeaux]. »
A mechanical problem?
Only, times have changed since the time when Alain Juppé occupied the nearby town hall, while the Girondins were playing in the Champions League. Today, the boss of the sprint is Philipsen. The Belgian is also the last wagon of the splendid Alpecin train, while the veteran from Astana could almost only count on his old thighs in this final as splendid as it is cruel. Certainly, there is the brave Bol, but nothing to do with Mark Renshaw, the essential pilot fish of the 2010s.
The Cav however mentioned a mechanical problem in the final packaging, and fatal. “When I started my sprint, my speed went back to 12 teeth. So I had to sit down to put it back on the eleven. This of course breaks your pace a bit. Seen like that, of course…
For his part, Philipsen had no such worries. “So far, it’s been a dream Tour for us,” said the winner of the day. But all machines have hearts, as his words about Cavendish prove. “He was really strong. I would also have loved to see him win, like everyone else, I think. These kinds of statements are not expensive when you pile up the victories, but the tone used smells of sincerity.
“This morning we saw images of his victory here in 2010. It seems so far away! But he’s still there, it’s unbelievable. He is the best sprinter in history. “The 2011 world champion has not always counted only friends among his colleges, with his ego bigger than the Isle of Man where he comes from. But as often, time softens feelings, and the twilight of this eighteen-year career is viewed with a filter of nostalgia.
Will there be a 163rd success?
Now, the man with 162 victories, the last in Rome during the final stage of the recent Giro, is seen as a legend, and no longer as the cheeky one who chambered the declining Cipollini or Greipel at the time of his splendour. A final success for his 14th participation in the Tour de France, only the second since 2018, would be unanimously welcomed by the peloton…
” Today [vendredi], I am disappointed, recognizes the interested party. But we will keep trying and we still have things to improve. I think I can beat Jasper. “The concern is that there are really not many opportunities left to prove it.