CAV’S DONE IT AGAIN!
Manxman closes on Merckx record for stage wins
OLD SCHOOL, run of the mill — like you’d read in a cycling magazine,’ was how Mark Cavendish described the platform he was afforded yesterday. ‘A textbook lead-out.’
Fitting, then, that the 36-year-old capped Stage 10 with a vintage finish, too.
And in so doing, he penned another chapter in this remarkable tale. How many more could possibly be left?
Yesterday in Valence, Cavendish strengthened his grip on the green jersey with a third stage win of this Tour de France. His 33rd of an incredible career.
The Manxman won’t admit it but Eddy Merckx’s all-time record of 34 could well fall before this race is through.
And would anyone argue if it was Britain’s greatest ever sprinter who ripped it from his grasp?
Yesterday, after a 190km slog from Albertville, Cavendish held off Wout van Aert and Jasper Philipsen to rack up another win in a race he wasn’t meant to start.
As Cavendish pointed out, though, this latest feat of individual brilliance was forged in the chains of his Deceuninck-QuickStep team-mates.
With the stage climax blown open by crosswinds, world champion Julian Alaphilippe, Michael Morkov and Co led Cavendish into pole position.
It meant that when he hit the front, observers counted only 14 pedal revolutions before he crossed the line.
‘I’m just humbled,’ Cavendish said. ‘They’re all just leaving everything on the road for me. I had to finish it off. I didn’t really do anything — I did 150 metres! It’s the team I thank.’
Cavendish is rather enjoying these returns to old haunts. Last week, he triumphed in Chateauroux — the scene of his first stage win in 2008.
Yesterday, he tasted victory in Valence, 11 years on from another victory nearby.
A final sprint on the Champs-Elysees is still to come — Cavendish has history there, too. It is written, surely.
For now, though, this latest win takes him 59 points clear in the green jersey standings.