Whatever comes will be a bonus – Cavendish
Mark Cavendish has said whatever comes for the rest of the season will be a bonus after his remarkable week in winning four stages of the Tour of Turkey earlier this month.
The Manxman claimed his first win in three years with victory on stage two of the race into Konya on April 12, but was only just getting started as victories on stages three, four and eight saw him reach 150 career wins.
He also delivered the 800th win in the history of Deceuninck-QuickStep, who offered him a career lifeline this season as he returned to the team he rode for between 2013 and 2015.
The 30-time Tour de France stage winner told the team’s website: “I have so much to say thank you for. The Tour of Turkey is not the Tour de France, but just to win again after some years of physical and psychological difficulties is something special.
“To be able to do it with The Wolfpack is a dream come true. Raising my hands is super emotional, as I felt a lot of peoplehadjustgivenuponme over the last years. But Patrick (Lefevere, team general manager) believed in me, I owe him so much. He is my hero.”
After struggling with illness and injury for several seasons, Cavendish feared his career was over last winter as the pandemic added to uncertainty for riders out of contract – making his return to winning ways all the more emotional.
Cavendish’s race programme for the rest of the season is not known, and he will face fierce competition for places given the depth of the Deceuninck-QuickStep squad, but the 35-year-old is looking forward to what is to come.