{"id":409208,"date":"2024-07-03T20:56:02","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T20:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=409208"},"modified":"2024-07-04T03:09:34","modified_gmt":"2024-07-04T03:09:34","slug":"cavendish-breaks-tour-de-france-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=409208","title":{"rendered":"Cavendish breaks Tour de France record"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark Cavendish wrote a new chapter of Tour de France<\/a> history in what is expected to be his last appearance at cycling's biggest race.<\/p>\n

The veteran Isle of Man sprinter broke Eddy Merckx\u2019s long-standing record for most career Tour de France stage wins with his 35th victory.<\/p>\n

The 39-year-old Cavendish sprinted for the win in the fifth stage of the Tour, pulling away some 100 metres from the line despite being bunched in. He crossed the line ahead of Jasper Philipsen and then celebrated with teammates.<\/p>\n

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Norwegian rider Alexander Kristoff, who had crashed earlier, finished third. They were given the same time of four hours, eight minutes, and 46 seconds.<\/p>\n

Sixteen years after his first Tour stage win, Cavendish spoke of his constant hunger for victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always needed to win one more, more more,\u201d said Cavendish, who was joined by his children on the podium. \u201cIt takes a lot to get there every year. I\u2019ve got incredible people around me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Britain's<\/p>\n

Two-time champion Tadej Pogacar narrowly avoided a crash and finished nestled in the main pack in 35th place. While Pogacar retained the race leader's yellow jersey, the day belonged to Cavendish.<\/p>\n

He equaled Merckx\u2019s mark of 34 wins during the 2021 Tour and went close to No.35 in the seventh stage last year when he was narrowly beaten by Philipsen. He crashed a day later and broke his right collarbone.<\/p>\n

Merckx, the Belgian considered the most dominant rider in cycling history, won his 34 individual stages at the Tour from 1969-75.<\/p>\n

Cavendish's decision to give it one more shot paid off.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wanted to get the run-in to do it. I\u2019m a little bit in disbelief. Astana put a big gamble on this year to make sure we\u2019re good at the Tour de France," Cavendish said. "We\u2019ve done it."<\/p>\n

With his 2023 race ending early, Cavendish decided to put off retirement by a year and came back to try again.<\/p>\n

Finally, Cavendish made cycling history, after winning his first Tour stage back in 2008.<\/p>\n

Other riders were happy for Cavendish, with several stopping to speak with or hug him after the 177.4-kilometre leg from Saint-Jean-De-Maurienne to Saint-Vulbas<\/p>\n

Merckx amassed his wins in an era during which his domination was such that he earned the nickname \u201cThe Cannibal.\u201d Unlike Merckx, one of four riders to win the Tour five times, Cavendish has never won the overall title, or come close.<\/p>\n

But Cavendish\u2019s longevity among his fellow Tour sprinters has no equal.<\/p>\n

He won the Tour de France best sprinter\u2019s green jersey twice. He also won stages at all three Grand Tours \u2014 the others are the Giro d\u2019Italia and Spanish Vuelta \u2014 and became a world champion in 2011.<\/p>\n

Cavendish joined Astana after his contract with Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl expired and he was overlooked for the 2022 Tour.<\/p>\n

Cavendish had faced a difficult start to this Tour. During the first stage, he appeared to struggle with stomach and heat issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know how it works, my trainer and everyone around me knows how it is," Cavendish said. "I\u2019ve done 15 Tours de France. I don\u2019t like to have bad days, I don\u2019t like to suffer but I know it\u2019s just in the head and to push through it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Pogacar has another flat stage to get through safely Friday, having reclaimed the leader\u2019s jersey Wednesday with a brilliant attack near the top of the race\u2019s first big mountain pass.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark Cavendish wrote a new chapter of Tour de France history in what is expected to be his last appearance at cycling's biggest race. The […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":409210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409208"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=409208"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":409211,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409208\/revisions\/409211"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/409210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=409208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=409208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=409208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}