"It was talked about because it didn’t seem possible" - Mark Cavendish reflects on breaking Eddy Merckx's Tour de France stage win record

Mark Cavendish's story was already well weaved into the fabric of the Tour de France's long and storied history, but in 2024, the 'Manx Missile' did what many thought impossible and broke the great Eddy Merckx's long standing stage win record with his 35th victory.

The closer Cavendish got to Merckx's stage win record, the older he also got which in turn, fuelled louder and louder doubting voices. Whether it be recovering from nasty crashes, broken bones or even the Epstein–Barr virus however, Cavendish has proven time and time again that it is foolish to ever write off the most successful sprinter in the history of the sport.

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“Of course it was nice,” he said as he reflected on his achievement in conversation with Orla Chennaoui for Eurosport, at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. “I have always said it would just be one more, but actually I think the very fact, what I have come to learn retrospectively, is that it was talked about because it didn’t seem possible. You do it and it becomes possible."

Merckx took the 34th and final stage win of his Tour de France career back in 1974 and for five decades, it did indeed seem almost impossible that anyone would go one better. For Cavendish however, breaking the record was a clear goal. “For me it was just you need something to get you out of bed, get you training, that extra half hour at the end of a ride, you need something in the motivation," he explains. “It was just that really. That is what everyone needs, a goal and a focus."

“Whatever you do just commit and put everything into it," concludes the Astana Qazaqstan Team sprinter, who also ends his Tour de France career with a duo of Green Jersey victories. "You never want to regret not doing something. You have to throw yourself into everything you do and work hard and you can get what you want.”

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