“When we talk numbers, Merckx is 525 victories. Mark has 165” - Oliver Naesen on comparisons between Eddy Merckx & Mark Cavendish

Cycling
Friday, 05 July 2024 at 16:00
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Although his place in Tour de France history has long been assured, Mark Cavendish confirmed himself as the greatest stage winner in the history of cycling's most famous race earlier this week, completing his 'Project 35'.
Overtaking the legendary Eddy Merckx as the man with the most stage wins in Tour de France history, Cavendish's win brought a smile to many in the cycling community. In terms of who's stage win tally is most impressive between Merckx's 34 and Cavendish's 35 continues to rumble on.
“Times are different now, of course,” Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale's Oliver Naesen told Velo following Cavendish's history making triumph in Saint Vulbas on Wednesday afternoon. “Today it’s way harder to win so much, and the era during which Cavendish did it all is just incredible. We are speaking of two completely different eras. Mark is the GOAT of sprinters. He is the greatest sprinter of all time by far. When we talk numbers, Merckx is 525 victories. Mark has 165. That is an incredible number. Sprinter-wise, he is the greatest of all time.”
Whilst all of Cavendish's victories have come in bunch sprints, Merckx took wins in various different manners. It must be mentioned however, that three positive doping tests hang a cloud over Merckx somewhat despite his iconic status. Cavendish meanwhile has never tested positive for a banned substance.
“When Merckx raced, he was doing 120 days or more. Cycling has changed. Tadej Pogacar wins a lot, but he will never reach those numbers,” Naesen analyses. “The greatest of today, they do 50 race-day seasons. Just mathematically it is not possible to achieve those numbers anymore. Those days of Merckx are over, and those numbers will never repeat.”
“I remember being a junior when Cavendish won his first stages. I raced home from school to watch him win his sprints on TV, and that I am here today, what is he [39]? He is still winning, it is just unheard of, unseen,” Naesen concludes. “The top sprinters just have a period of when they No. 1, maybe one, two, or three years. With Cavendish it is two decades. It is just insane.”
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Cavendish took a history making 35th Tour stage win on Wednesday 
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8 Comments
mikestr 30 December 2024 at 03:07+ 10

Eras blend in with each other, so it's possible to look at riders who bridged them to get a relative idea of the quality of the riders. Most today would regard the era of Hinault and Lemond as "fully professional," and the pace was quick: around 38 kph on bikes that would be considered a liability today, and in a racing schedule that was far more severe than today. One of the TDF general classification winners at that time was Zoetemelk, in 1980. He was 38 years old. In his prime he lost repeatedly to Merckx. There are many such misunderstandings in these comparisons. Another involves amphetamine use. It did not make riders faster. It allowed them to endure the fatigue of the insane race schedule. Their use was widespread, but had schedules been more reasonable their use and impact would have been less.

As far as the wider participation of nations is concerned, I'm not sure this matters as much as the total size of the pool of cyclists from which the pro ranks draw. There is arguably less competitive cycling down today. The amateur clubs are mostly gone, and financial barriers to entering racing as a profession are high. We see the same sort of argument made here in the US about pro baseball and basketball: We now have players from Eastern Europe, Africa, Japan, Korea, and other countries, and w have more pro teams, modern medicine and training methods, etc. But fewer people actually play these sports than before, and the overall quality of play is not necessarily higher--it's just assumed to be. Take away the CF frames and wheels and aero helmets, electronic shifters, etc., put today's riders on a 1980 race schedule. Oh, and 42/23 gearing for the mountains. They may not stack up so well. Evolution, or continual improvement in sports is often assumed, but I'm not so sure.

Krafttraining 06 July 2024 at 10:40+ 0

Pretty sure Cav won a prologue in the Tour of Britain, so not all his wins were sprint wins.

mikestr 07 July 2024 at 14:55+ 10

Or you could say that their task was more difficult, as the race was longer, the roads worse, the equipment far worse, and they had to race far more days per year with less rest. Yet the speeds were nearly as high. Your era bias is showing.

awp 06 July 2024 at 20:13+ 1272

There is no comparison, but good on Cav for setting his own record.

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