"Tour de France is bigger than cycling" - Mark Cavendish finally makes absolute Tour and cycling history in Saint-Vulbas

There is little more to say. After winning for the first time at the Tour de France back in 2008, he was beaten sprinters over generations on end and has done it today once again. Astana Qazaqstan Team's goal of taking the Manx Missile to Tour glory has payed off and Mark Cavendish has finally managed to break the ultimate stage victory record in the race.

"I can't believe it. It was a big gamble to be here, to try to win here. A big gamble for my boss (Alexandre Vinokourov, ed.). That shows that he is a former rider and that he knows what the Tour is," Cavendish said in a post-race interview. "We just did it. We did what we wanted. Every detail in terms of equipment and teammates was adapted to sprinting. We are not suddenly going to be at the top of the UCI rankings, but the Tour de France is bigger than cycling."

This is the result of a whole year and a half of work. Cavendish's career over the past years seemed to be ending several times, even after he matched Eddy Merckx' record. In late 2022 his transfer to B&B Hotels collapsed as the team was disbanded before the start of the season, but Alexandre Vinokourov took a gamble on the veteran sprinter. After a Giro victory in 2023 he started the Tour and almost succeeded, but crashed out in the first week of the race. He had already announced his retirement at that time, but postponed in order to give it another shot this season.

Mark Renshaw, his former leadout man, was signed as a DS. His former coach from the Soudal - Quick-Step days in 2021 was also signed to coach the Manxman; whilst the likes of Davide Ballerini, Michael Morkov and Cees Bol were all signed to lead him out in the sprints. Today was the result of all this devotion to Cavendish's cause. In a chaotic sprint, the Manxman found himself isolated from the team in the final kilometer but rode fantastically in the wheels and timed a powerful sprint to perfection, beating Jasper Philipsen to take the victory.

“Normally it takes me a while to get into it. I know how it works. I don’t like having bad days, but you have to push through it and wait for your chance. Then everything has to fall in your favor. We didn’t do it as a team, the way we wanted, but the guys were able to improvise and get me to the finish," he concluded. We can certainly expect a big celebration in the Astana camp today, and plenty congratulations from all sides of the peloton from riders to analysts to commentators to managers...