Mark Cavendish's quest to claim the outright record for most Tour de France stage wins was sadly brought to a premature end on stage 8 as he suffered a broken collarbone. Despite Cavendish being set to retire at the end of the year, Eddy Merckx, the man who he shares the record with, hopes he will be persuaded to return.
"I hope Cavendish will return," says 'the Cannibal' to Sporza, on his fellow 34-time Tour de France stage winner. “It would be a shame if he had to end his career with a broken collarbone. I hope he will ride at least until the Tour next year.”
On the 2023 Tour de France, Merckx was full of praise for the winner in waiting, Jonas Vingegaard. The Jumbo-Visma leader has blown Tadej Pogacar away in the third week and looks set to win the race by a huge margin.
“It was exciting up until the time trial, but when Vingegaard pulled away from Pogačar in the Pyrenees, we could already see that he was a slightly better climber when it was really steep in the high mountains,” Merckx recalls. “In the time trial and the day after on the Col de la Loze, he was the better climber.”
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“It has been a very tough Tour and they keep riding fast. The diets are better. It's all much more professional than in our time," concludes the 78-year-old, five-time Tour de France winner. "The material is also different. I weighed my bike from 1971 last week and it was more than 10 kg. That is also a big difference."
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- let’s be honest, Alpecin is all about one rider - MVDP. I’m sure he gets whatever he needs, the rest get the scraps.mij15-11-2026
- there are more vicious injuries on a road bike than a mountain bike far and away.mij15-11-2026
- That'll be one crazy rider
Rafionain-Glas15-11-2026 - Many Europeans say that Austria, Switzerland and Slovenia are one of the most beautiful countries in Europe known for their stunning landscapes because of the Alp mountains, green forests, clean rivers and lakes, coastlines, and national parks.PogiSloFans15-11-2026
- Pogi=Baby Hulk=Smash !!!PogiSloFans15-11-2026
- I was in Maribor last summer (while spending time in Graz with family) but of course it was the day of independence and everything was shut. Sigh. Lovely walk on the river. (And yes, I’m Austrian and live in the US.)RidesHills15-11-2026
- Riding a mountain bike off road after his injuries is not very responsiblecaptmike15-11-2026
- disagreed. in this year's tdf he was unable to ride away from the young guns in the stages before his crash. there were several riders at least close to, if not on, his level in the second week: seixas, remco, del toro, lipo. next year jonas is a year older and the younger riders gained a year of experience and strength. if you then try to skip part of the high altitude training ... i doubt that jonas will make the podium at tdf 27. for sure he is not the favourite for runner up. he will be in the mix, yes. but not THE favourite for 2nd place.Ketterechts15-11-2026
- That means you're Austrian, like Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was born close to Gradec, very close to Maribor. We used to do a lot of shopping in Gradec in the 70's and 80's, when Slovenia was still a part of communist Yugoslavia. Today we have good relationships with the Austrians. Many Slovenians are working there.PogiSloFans15-11-2026
- headline criticism agreed. but otherwise he certainly has a point. you can negotiate extra perks if you are way above he rest ... however, these times have long gone ...Ketterechts15-11-2026
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