Eddy Merckx broke the Tour de France stage win document on the 23 July 1972. The Belgian, who solely made his debut on the French Grand Tour three years earlier, in 1969, amassed 26 stage wins out of simply 104 alternatives. The Belgian gained 1 / 4 of days he began in his first 4 Excursions to clinch the document from André Leducq, who had held the title of ‘winningest’ for the earlier 40 years.
Slightly below 52 years later, Mark Cavendish smashed by way of Merckx’s yellow ceiling on stage 5 of the 2024 Tour de France. Whereas the Belgian rode simply seven Excursions to make historical past, in simply eight years, Cavendish has proved that longevity issues simply as a lot. The Manxman is driving his fifteenth Tour, 16 years after he made his debut. He won’t have the ability to match Merckx’s strike charge, however he has outdone the Belgian on only a longer profession. That, in itself, is spectacular, not to mention the profitable.
Cavendish is the Jimmy Anderson, the Ronnie O’Sullivan, of sprinting. To stay on the prime of the game for 16 years is insanity. Not solely has Erik Zabel, who he beat within the 2008 Tour de France, retired, however his son, Rick, has too. Marcel Kittel, the person who appeared like Cavendish’s nemesis for a couple of years, solely gained 14 phases, and has been retired since 2019.
Given it has been over half a century for the reason that final time the Tour document was damaged, Cavendish may be protected on the prime of the pile for now, however we will not rule out the chance that the stage win document will final eternally.
Nevertheless, there is just one rider within the present peloton who can feasibly beat it: one Tadej Pogačar.
The UAE Workforce Emirates rider, the person within the yellow jersey, has gained 12 stage wins in 5 look to this point; add a couple of extra in over the subsequent couple of weeks, and it may very well be on.
After the second of historical past on Wednesday night, Cavendish joked with Pogačar behind the rostrum, telling him “do not beat it”, to which the person 14 years his junior replied “no I will not, no worries”.
“After I was a child, I used to be watching Mark with my buddies and my brother,” Pogačar stated later, in his press convention. “He was only a hero to so many guys. He was profitable in such a category with the staff collectively. Now I am already racing towards him for six years. We turned fairly good buddies, I might say. Successful the thirty fifth stage, he is [in] historic firm.
“Mark requested me behind the rostrum ‘Please do not break this document’ so I’ll let him have it,” he added.
Will he, although? Pogačar gained three phases at his first three Excursions, two final 12 months, and will feasibly win a couple of extra in 2024. He simply gained six phases on his solution to profitable the Giro d’Italia, and is the closest factor biking has to a contemporary Merckx.
It’s going to come right down to longevity greater than the rest. It might take 12 Excursions for Pogačar to interrupt Cavendish’s document – that is if the Manxman does not win any extra – and most careers do not final that lengthy on the prime. Not in Tour de France stage-winning kind, anyway. Merckx’s document lasted 52 years, bear in mind.
The Slovenian is completely different, although. He can win all kinds of various phases, and does not appear to ever be sated with profitable. Even when he does not final as a basic classification rider – one thing we will not actually predict – one can think about him nonetheless being there, sprinting to stage wins, punching to victory.
If Pogačar retains driving properly till his mid 30s, and retains choosing up a couple of Tour stage wins a 12 months, then he’s the one rider of the present era who can deny Cavendish of an everlasting place in historical past.
In fact, there can be one other nice rider who comes ultimately and sweeps the document away, issues do not final eternally. For now, Cavendish can sleep comfortably, understanding his place in historical past is safe, however do not guess towards Pogačar.
