Last evening after returning from the hospital @MarkCavendish visited the team’s hotel to say goodbye to his teammates. Today he’ll fly home. A very fast recovery, good luck, thank you for the great moments and see you soon, Mark! #TDF2023 #AstanaQazaqstanTeam
Rod Ellingworth on Mark Cavendish's Tour de France abandon: "It’s tragic for him and tragic for the whole sport"
CyclingSunday, 09 July 2023 at 12:24
Mark Cavendish's departure from the Tour de France was the main story of stage 8, tributes and comments on the Manxman have come from all sides of the peloton as it may have been his last in the race which marked his career. Former manager Rod Ellingworth had equally good words on the sprinter.
“I could see when he climbed in the ambulance. I think he’ll be shell-shocked, really shell-shocked. I’m first of all thinking about Mark and about how his family are feeling. It’s a huge and very sad moment for all of them," INEOS Grenadiers performance manager Rod Ellingworth told Cyclingnews. “I think if he’d finished the Tour and not won a stage that would have been one thing but to crash out of the Tour like that is such a terrible thing."
Ellingworth collaborated with Cavendish extensively in his years on Team Sky, but the two have remained prominent figures in their own roles throughout the past decade in the peloton. Cavendish was in search of a win that would set him apart as the rider with the most stage wins in the history of the Tour de France on what is said to be his last year as a pro rider, but the day after he finished second he was forced to leave with a broken collarbone. “It’s tragic for him and tragic for the whole sport."
"We’ve all been robbed of that great opportunity to see him win a 35th stage. It’s a disappointment for everybody, I’m sure everyone feels sad. He was not odds on to win a 35th stage but he had a fair good chance. I wouldn’t want to speculate about his future at this point but knowing Cav, who knows…" Ellingworth concluded.
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- Thanks Dadmobk22-12-2024
- Hard to believe with the advancment of modern medicine he can not find a cause for this.frieders321-12-2024
- You continue to platform these two cheats. With that in mind I can no longer use your site. I know my leaving means little, but, sometimes you have to take a stand. See ya!DJ21-12-2024
- Look at what Froome’s won since his last TdF, stop denying there is still more than possible one outcome to the future.Mistermaumau21-12-2024
- Bruyneel understands nothing about clean competition.Sweep21-12-2024
- Exactly. Remco won 3 WT races/stages last year compared to Pogocar's 19. Remco's single stage win in last years TdF earned him a meager 12 seconds over Pogocar who shellac'd him by 9 minutes in GC.Sweep21-12-2024
- Fortunately and as you point out, more than one strategy is possible and worth trying and I’m sure all concerned riders are well informed and counselled on this subject and don’t need such basic personal advice through media from an outsider.Mistermaumau21-12-2024
- The main SPOTY award is "decided" by public vote but the BBC "expert panel" decide who you can choose from, that choice has an equal split of genders and is focussed on the sports BBC show and a disabled athlete. Oh yea the ubiquitous "Pub Games" candidate there too, Darts and Snooker are not sports. The other awards are decided by the "Expert Panel" again it's about the sports BBC show, cycling has had it. Cav got his for his years and achievements in the sport, not just that 35th TDF win. Unless the BBC get access to Pro Cycling it will never feature "adequately" on SPOTYslappers6621-12-2024
- Ahhh..... you have to understand the "strange" diversity concepts of the BBCslappers6621-12-2024
- Avoiding him is a good strategy, you get more wins and then you can compete in the TDF relatively relaxed. Pit yourself against Pogi and not only there will be no wins, it will be considerable mental setbackabstractengineer21-12-2024