Philippe Gilbert evaluates Mark Cavendish's chances at Tour de France success: "I think a lot of people will be happy"

Mark Cavendish's emotional stage win on the final stage of the 2022 Giro d'Italia sent shockwaves across the cycling world. Just days after he announced his impending retirement, Cavendish's victory in Rome gave new life to his career-long quest of breaking the Tour de France stage win record.

“I really believe it," says Philippe Gilbert to Eurosport, on the chances of the 'Manx Missile' taking that historic 35th Tour de France stage win. “I was also sure that he would win one at the Giro - we had to wait until the last day and honestly I was really happy that he did it. It was important for his health and for the confidence of the team."

Although Cavendish is clearly no longer at the peak of his powers, it is that team around him that holds the most question marks heading into the Tour de France. Can his new lead-out man Cees Bol fill the role, so impressively filled in the past by the likes of Michael Morkov and Mark Renshaw. The fact that the Astana Qazaqstan Team have brought Renshaw into the mix in a behind the scenes role is indeed a positive.

“I think that win will give him more support inside the team, I think that his team-mates will fight even more for him, they don’t have the best experience but I think they will have the right mentality to do that," evaluates Gilbert. “If he wins that stage, I will be really happy, I think a lot of people will be happy but he can be really proud because breaking this record is not an easy challenge. I really support him in this challenge and I hope he will make it.”