Countdown to the Tour de France: 5 days | Mark Cavendish breaks Eddy Merckx’s record

In today’s Tour de France countdown article, we celebrate one of the most popular victories in recent editions of the Tour de France. Of course, we are talking about Mark Cavendish’s historic stage victory at the 2024 Tour de France, a triumph that crowned him the most prolific stage winner in the race’s history, surpassing the great Eddy Merckx.

For Cavendish, this was more than just another win; it was the crowning achievement of a remarkable career defined by not only his incredible speed, but also his ability to comeback time and time again, despite many set backs.

So, let’s dive into stage 5 of last year’s Tour de France, and find out why it had been a moment so long in the making.

It was on Stage 5 of the 2024 Tour de France that Cavendish finally had the moment, he and his fans, had dreamt of for so long. In the unassuming town of Saint-Vulbas, far from the pomp of Paris, the 39-year-old sprint legend wrote a new chapter of Tour history in what was expected to be his final appearance at cycling’s biggest race.

Cavendish unleashed a vintage sprint in the final 100 meters, timing his acceleration perfectly to blow past his rivals. He crossed the line ahead of Jasper Philipsen, with Alexander Kristoff in third, then roared in celebration as the enormity of his achievement sank in. Many of his rivals, who he had just beaten once again, quickly came over to him to congratulate him on a truly legendary moment.

It may not have been the Champs-Élysées, but the moment was massive, Cavendish’s 35th Tour de France stage win, breaking Merckx’s long standing record for most career stage victories.

The reaction to Cavendish’s win showed how beloved he is in the peloton. Riders from other teams rushed to congratulate and hug him, and even the usual podium rivals were smiling. Cavendish, joined by his wife and children on the podium, was overcome with emotion. “I always needed to win one more, more more,” he admitted, reflecting on the competitive fire that had kept him in the sport for so long.

“It takes a lot to get there every year. I’ve got incredible people around me.” Indeed, Cavendish credited his Astana team for believing in him, “Astana put a big gamble on this year… We’ve done it,” he said in disbelief after the stage. Sixteen years after his first Tour stage win, the Manx Missile had finally claimed sole ownership of a record many thought would never be broken.

But how did he get there in the first place?

Long before his fairy-tale 2024 triumph, Mark Cavendish had established himself as a sprinting legend. Hailing from the Isle of Man, Cavendish burst onto the Tour de France scene as a young pro in the late 2000s. He captured his first Tour stage win in 2008 and quickly proved unstoppable in the sprints. Between 2008 and 2011, Cavendish racked up an astonishing 20 stage victories at the Tour, including a personal-best six wins in a single Tour (2009), an unprecedented display of sprint supremacy in the modern era.

He became especially renowned for conquering the prestigious Champs-Élysées stage in Paris, winning the Tour’s final stage four years in a row (2009–2012), a stage most sprinters dream about winning just once in their career. By 2011, Cavendish had clinched the Tour’s points classification, donning the green jersey as the race’s top sprinter, and that same year he was crowned world champion on the road, confirming his status as the fastest finisher on the planet. At his peak, the “Manx Missile” was simply unstoppable if someone let him hit top speed.

Cavendish’s early Tour career was defined by prolific success and big milestones. He won at least four Tour stages in each of the 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 editions. He twice earned the green jersey as overall sprint champion (2011 and later 2021) and has also picked up a rainbow jersey victory, 3 wins at the Vuelta, 17 wins at the Giro, and also won the Milano-Sanremo monument.

Maintaining such dominance, however, was not without challenges. In the mid-2010s, Cavendish’s career hit a turbulent stretch. He suffered serious crashes, most famously a heavy fall in the 2014 Tour’s opening stage on British soil that left him with a dislocated shoulder, and he was later diagnosed with the Epstein-Barr virus, a debilitating illness that sidelined him during 2017–2018.

The victories dried up, and for the first time Cavendish looked mortal. By 2019, he was even left off his team’s Tour squad, a crushing blow for a rider who lived to win in July. Many wondered if the Manx Missile had misfired for good. Cavendish himself has candidly spoken about battling depression during this period, as he struggled to recapture his top form.

But champions of Cavendish’s caliber don’t quit easily. In 2021, he engineered one of cycling’s greatest comebacks. Having rejoined the Quick Step team in a last-minute deal, Cavendish wasn’t even supposed to ride the Tour that year, but when an injury opened a spot, he seized the opportunity.

What followed was the stuff of legend: Cavendish won four stages in the 2021 Tour and stormed to another green jersey, at age 36. In doing so, he equaled Merckx’s record of 34 career Tour stage wins, a feat that seemed unthinkable just a year prior. Suddenly, the record that had stood since 1975 was within his reach. The cycling world was overjoyed at Cav’s renaissance; the improbable comeback was complete, and he once again stood on the Tour podium in Paris, wrapped in green and tied with the Cannibal’s hallowed mark.

Fate, however, would make Cavendish wait a little longer for outright history. In 2022, despite his resurgent form, Cavendish’s team left him off the Tour roster, meaning he would have to wait at least another year for victory. Undeterred, Cavendish switched to the Astana Qazaqstan team for 2023, announcing that year would be his final season and final shot at the record.

But the 2023 Tour de France brought heartbreak.

On Stage 7 in Bordeaux, Cavendish came agonizingly close to win number 35, only to be foiled by a late mechanical problem and beaten on the line by Jasper Philipsen, who dominated the sprints that year. The next day, misfortune struck again as Cavendish crashed heavily and broke his collarbone, forcing him to abandon the race. It was a cruel end, his Tour career appeared over, stuck on 34 wins, with the record still just out of reach. In a tearful moment, Cavendish waved goodbye to the 2023 Tour, and many assumed that was the end of the road for the Manx Missile.

Yet, true to his tenacious character, Cavendish refused to let that be his final chapter. He decided to postpone retirement and give the Tour one more go in 2024. It was a bold, almost defiant choice, at 38 turning 39, Cavendish would be far older than nearly all his sprinting rivals. But as he later said, “You know when the team’s dialed in… if you get through it, you can have an opportunity”.

He believed there was still one more magic day in his legs. That faith was rewarded spectacularly on July 3, 2024, when Cavendish finally made cycling history on Stage 5. His decision to carry on was vindicated in the best possible way, with a victorious swansong that captivated fans around the world.

The word ‘legend’ gets thrown around regular in sport, but Cavendish is one that truly deserves that title. Merckx’s mark of 34 had loomed since 1975, nearly half a century, and many thought it untouchable.

Cavendish not only reached it, he surpassed it, and he did so as a pure sprinter. In contrast to Merckx (a five-time Tour champion who won stages in time trials, mountains, and sprints), every single one of Cavendish’s 35 wins came in bunch sprint finishes. He dominated the Tour’s flat stages like no rider before him, using his uncanny positional sense, explosive acceleration, and sheer will to beat generation after generation of fast men.

Mark Cavendish’s story is one of talent, tenacity, and an undying passion for the Tour de France. He has worn the yellow jersey (if only briefly), claimed the green jersey twice, and won 165 races in his career, but nothing tops the moment he became the Tour’s winningest stage rider.

In an era when sprinters come and go, Cavendish has been to a whopping 15 Tours, and has been a threat in just about all of them. His record may well stand for generations, a target perhaps never to be reached by another.

As we count down the final days to the 2025 Tour, Cavendish’s record-breaking triumph reminds us that even in a race rich with history, new legends can still be written. At the rate Tadej Pogacar is going, we may have a new record in the not so distant future. But, that won’t matter, as Cavendish is already the greatest sprinter the Tour has ever seen.