“How lengthy does he have?” Asks one fan to a different, ready outdoors the Astana-Qazaqstan crew bus on the promenade in Rimini. “25 minutes have gone,” the second replies. “I believe he will make it.”
Mark Cavendish was not anticipated to be the story on stage one of many Tour de France. However after dropping from the peloton early, showing to vomit, and lagging deeper behind on time, a fear started to sprout.
Round 100 folks gathered by the Brit’s sky blue bus after the stage. They watched the minutes tick by on their telephones, the anxiousness rising as each glided by. Lastly, over 39 minutes after the winner, Romain Bardet, crossed the road, a roar got here from the lots down by the end line.
Submitting by way of them, nonetheless on his teammate Michael Mørkøv’s wheel, Cavendish got here trundling in direction of security. He had endured virtually six hours within the saddle, and staved off the time reduce with 10 minutes to spare.
The Brit mentioned nothing when he put his ft on the ground. Sporting a dazed expression – his mouth ajar and backside lip hanging low – Cavendish calmly rested his bike towards the bus, and puffed his cheeks out. He then pushed the curtain within the doorway apart, and disappeared up the steps.
The group noise fell to a curious hum. 5 minutes later, the curtain swung again once more, and summoned by cries of his identify, the sprinter stepped again outdoors. His first phrases revealed the explanation for his struggling.
“It was the warmth,” Cavendish instructed the press. “Look, we all know what we’re doing. It is not simple. Like I all the time say, in case you’ve acquired my physique sort now, do not begin biking, as a result of these days have gone. However we all know what we’re doing. It doesn’t suggest it is easy. We’re not driving spherical speaking.”
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All through the stage – a dizzying 200km hack by way of the Tuscan hills – Cavendish was stored firm in the back of the race by teammates Mørkøv, Cees Bol and Bram Welten. The trio tried their finest to maintain their sprinter cool within the 35C warmth, pouring water into his helmet, and stuffing ice cubes down the again of his jersey.
How had Cavendish discovered the day? “That was so laborious,” he mentioned. “That was so laborious, however we had a plan and we caught to it. Okay, I’d have appreciated to have stayed yet another climb with the peloton, however I used to be seeing stars, actually. It was so scorching. We’re comfortable we made it by way of. We’re okay.”
Whereas his followers feared the worst, Cavendish counted again the minutes he could be granted to complete the stage. Had he missed the time restrict, he may need been turfed off his farewell Tour.
“You’ll be able to work out what the entrance guys are going to do, you then work out what you are able to do, what you have to do to get within the time restrict,” he defined. “[It] is not actually to try to put folks out of the race. It’s there when persons are sick and injured, to cease them carrying on. Clearly it makes a pleasant story while you’re near it. Like I mentioned, we type of had all of it below management.”
The sighs of aid beside the crew bus, nevertheless, recommended his followers weren’t all the time so satisfied. At some point down, “onto stage two,” Cavendish mentioned. For now, the dream of a record-breaking thirty fifth stage win lives on.
