"He always will be welcome, with or without his bike" - Christian Prudhomme reacts to Mark Cavendish's Tour de France abandon
Cycling
Mark Cavendish has seen his quest to become the outright record holder of the most Tour de France stage wins come to a heartbreakingly premature end after a crash on stage 8 forced the Astana Qazaqstan sprinter to abandon the race.
Christian Prudhomme, the race director of the Tour de France since 2007 has seen the evolution of Cavendish's career from his days HTC Columbia to this year. Speaking to ITV he gave his reaction to the sad news.
"It is a very emotional day. He was so sad just after the fall," Prudhomme explains. "He is the greatest sprinter in the history of the Tour de France. He wanted to try to win the 35th stage and he was second yesterday (stage 7 e.d) and we thought he would succeed in doing his goal but today it's over."
"He's sad, we are sad, the Tour de France is sad. He is so important for the Tour, I remember a few years ago when we were in the Alps and he was alone, far far behind the pack. He wanted to end the stage and we had to ask the police to not close the road because Mark Cavendish was on his bike and he was so respectful of the Tour. Mark deserves the respect of the Tour, he always will be welcome, with or without his bike."
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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"The Tour de France is sad" Matt spoke to race director, Christian Prudhomme, after @MarkCavendish crashed out 🚑 #TDF2023 #ITVCycling
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