Not long ago the Manxman talked tearfully about retirement. Now Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 Tour stage wins is in sight
As the French like to say, eating whets the appetite. So on Friday, the morning after winning the 32nd Tour de France stage of his career at Châteauroux, Mark Cavendish did not rest on his laurels, but formed part of a decisive 28-rider escape on the longest stage of the race. He spent much of the 249km run to Le Creusot several minutes ahead of the field, along with some of the strongest one-day racers in cycling: Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert, Philippe Gilbert and Vincenzo Nibali.
Given the hills that peppered the finale of the stage, Cavendish was never going to take his tally to 33 stage wins at Le Creusot. His motivation was the green jersey on his back, which is worn by the Tour’s leader on points; his target came 115km into the stage at the village of Saint Benin d’Azy, where he made sure of winning the intermediate sprint, gaining 20 points on adversaries such as Peter Sagan, Jasper Philipsen and Nacer Bouhanni. That gave him the strongest possible chance of retaining the jersey at least until Monday’s rest day, unless Van der Poel takes a serious interest.
Related: Tour de France: Mark Cavendish proves the comeback king of Châteauroux
Merckx’s tally of 34 stage wins is The Record That Cannot Be Named in Cavendish’s presence
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