"What if Cav just had a clean run? Could he have got 40? 45?" - Van Garderen & Vande Velde believe Mark Cavendish's 35 Tour de France stages 'easily' could be more

Mark Cavendish retires as the most successful sprinter of all time and the man with the most Tour de France stage victories in the long and storied history of cycling's most famous race. Could the 'Manx Missile's career have been even more successful though?

On the latest episode of NBC Sports Cycling's Beyond the Podium podcast, American ex-pros and former peloton rivals of Cavendish, Tejay van Garderen and Christian Vande Velde discuss Cavendish and the possibility that the Brit might look back on his 35 Tour de France stage victories as a total that could 'easily' have been improved upon.

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"How many could he have won? I mean, you saw the massive career arch that had down years, the Epstein-Barr, the mental health issues. He got back at Quick-Step, but then he got snubbed that year... What if Cav just had a clean run?" Van Garderen asks aloud. "I know it's just part of the journey but could he have got 40? 45?"

"Oh easily!" Vande Velde answers emphatically. "It's ridiculous that could've, would've, should've, but especially for a sprinter, how many times did he lose by an inch or half an inch? Or how many did he not care as much because he already had 4 or 5 in the bag? And that year when he was on fire after winning the National Championships. That was a big snub from Quick-Step."

"Even in 2021. No one thought he'd come back to Quick-Step and win four stages, not even him. And on the Champs Elysses I thought it was going to be a storybook ending but that obviously did not come to fruition," Vande Velde adds in conclusion. "I think easily (Cavendish could win more ed.) if you go back and look at it... Let's say 42, all day long in a could've, would've, should've scenario."

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