tour de france 2024: stage 5
by Rémy Rossi
Cavalier
Cavendish’s candid interviews and personable temperament these days are a long ways off from his old, brazen habits. He’s been through a lot over the past several years and it shows, yet he’s emerged from the adversity in stellar fashion. Truthfully, I watched the Neflix documentary Mark Cavendish: Never Enough last year and recommend it. His diagnosis with Epstein–Barr virus in 2017 and subsequent battle with depression only make his comeback arc even less probable and more impressive.
But Cavendish wasn’t always a lovable character with a storied, rollercoaster career that’s worthy of a feature-length Netflix film. It’s well documented that he was often described as confident, even arrogant, in his early years. Cav also had his fair share of racing incidents where he was clearly at fault, initiating drama and protests from fellow riders in the peloton. Sprinters have to possess a hefty dash of that kind of performance-enhancing bravado, but some people thought Cav went too far at times. It’s easy to criticize the best of the best, though.
I’ve been enjoying his post-race interviews during this Tour— he gives honest and charming responses with a splash of his characteristic confidence. Athlete interviews start to mush together after a while no matter what sport you’re watching, but Cav, armed with immense experience and perspective, keeps me amused.
Mark says “Move over Merckx”
Okay, Cavendish never actually said that but his victory on Stage 5 did officially relegate our Belgian godfather Eddy Merckx to second place when it comes to overall Tour de France stage wins. Not many people can say they’ve ever beat Eddy Merckx at anything. The press, cycling fans, and peloton insiders were all anticipating that Cav could break the record during this edition of the Tour but it was far from a done deal. He’s 39 years old after all and he did not look good during Stage 1.
A near-perfect lead-in before the final kilometers from teammates Ballerini and Bol kept his legs (and mind) as fresh as possible as his competitors had to jockey for position and spend extra energy to get to the front. Cav didn’t have the perfect lead-out (Mørkøv had lost the wheel of the rest of the train) but leveraged his killer instincts to stay protected and launch out from behind Pascal Ackerman, swinging to the left side of the road to minimize the draft advantage of any followers.
Watching the finale, I was solely focused on Cav during the final 3 kilometers and didn’t see him make a single mistake, staying perfectly postioned amid the washing machine front end of the peloton. In the end, he won with daylight between him and Jasper Philipsen— such a commanding victory that I almost didn’t believe it. I expected the chase for one more final Tour stage victory to come down to the Champs-Élysées (or at least further along in the race) but that fairytale has now been written off. This victory was the single objective for the entire Astana-Qazaqstan Team (who’s team solvency still hangs in the balance) and they can now bask in the glory knowing that all that risk was worth it. Sometimes putting all your eggs in one basket simply makes them easier to carry.
“NeXt” marks the spot
The pre-race stress and anticipation was palpable but now everyone can breathe a sigh of relief that Mark Cavendish finally did it. Now that he’s a knight and the winningest bike pedaler of them all, I’m not sure what else he ought to chase. After the stage, Geraint Thomas confessed that he jokingly suggested to Cav to hang up his wheels and take the rest of the Tour off now that he’s completed what he set out to do. But knowing Cav, he’s too much of a competitor for that. Here’s to seeing win number 36.
For recommended reading, check out Jonathan Liew’s 2013 article and interview with Mark Cavendish. Spoiler alert: Cav has a photgraphic memory. And he remembers every sprint he’s done. Pure genius.
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