Maybe Geraint Thomas summed up Mark Cavendish’s record-breaking Tour de France stage win – quantity 35 at Saint-Vulbas – greatest. “To see what he did at the moment, 16 years after his first Tour stage, is sort of unbelievable,” he wrote in an Instagram publish. “But it surely’s Cav. Nothing’s unbelievable”.
Actually the 39-year-old has made a profession of proving doubters fallacious. His longevity is exceptional, his dedication to his artwork unwavering, particularly once you suppose the person he surpassed yesterday as the best Tour winner, Eddy Merckx, retired at 32. Cav momentarily did the identical however the want to move Mercxk, to realize immortality, noticed him go once more. The doubters joined him, solely to be silenced as soon as extra.
Comfortably the best sprinter of his era earlier than the beginning in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, and now, the perfect of all time, every win, certainly his total profession, has been achieved by mixing chic pace and bike dealing with abilities, with tactical nous, bravery and quaint willpower. However after all he wanted a dependable steed to hold him throughout the road, and the bikes he’s ridden to victory have turn into a part of his lore.
Right here’s a take a look at six of the perfect, every chosen to indicate a milestone within the Manx Missile’s fantastic profession that is nonetheless going sturdy.
2008 Large TCR Superior – First Grand Tour stage win
(Picture credit score: Tim De Waele (Photograph by Tim De Waele/Getty Photographs))
2008 Giro d’Italia, Stage 4 – First Grand Tour stage win
Crew: Crew Excessive Street
Bike: Large TCR Superior
Solely two years into his skilled profession Cavendish was already a sprinter to be reckoned with. He’d equalled Alessandro Petacchi’s document for many victories in a debut season and notched a few successes on the Belgian semi-classic Scheldeprijs. By Might of 2008 he’d taken his win tally to 16. What he hadn’t but achieved nevertheless was to cross the road first at a Grand Tour stage.
He took care of enterprise on the 2008 Giro d’Italia, a win that started his love affair, and sprinting dominance, of three-week stage races. Stage 4 was a 183km jaunt from Pizzo Calabro to Catanzaro-Lungomare. Within the colors of Crew Excessive Street, he received in a bunch dash, as he would do again and again, however the lumpy stage was additionally an early perception into his willingness to endure so as to put himself in place to win.
The bike he achieved this primary Grand Tour stage win on was a model new machine, with Large overhauling the TCR Superior forward of the ’08 season. Alongside the up to date carbon frameset, Cavendish’s bike was dripping in Shimano Dura-Ace from the deep-section wheels to the pedals to the groupset itself, which featured rim brakes after all.
2009 Scott Addict SL – Milan – San Remo
(Picture credit score: Photograph by Tim De Waele/Getty Photographs)
2009 Milan – San Remo – First and solely Monument
Crew: Colombia – Excessive Street
Bike: Scott Addict SL
Rating Cavendish’s wins isn’t any simple process however his victory on the 2009 Milan-San Remo would possibly simply be his best. Profitable any one among biking’s 5 Monuments is a profession defining second for any bicycle owner however Cav’s triumph in La Classicissima was notably particular.
He’s since likened the race to an opera and the comparability is sensible. Effectively over 100 years previous and the longest of the Monuments at over 300km, it’s a gradual, brooding drama, punctuated by dozens of seemingly inconsequential moments whose significance is just understood upon reflection, finally constructing to a crescendo on the By way of Roma. In 2009 it was no totally different.
Whereas stills of the end will present Cav piping Henrich Haussler to the road by a nanosecond it’s essential to replay the previous few hundred metres to seize the win in all its glory, with Cav remarkably managing to shut a big hole after the German had jumped clear with about 250 metres to go. Like lots of his wins it was a measure of each his pace and his will.
And the successful bike? A Scott Addict SL that apparently included just a few extra layers of carbon to the underside bracket for higher stiffness. It was outfitted with Shimano Dura-Ace 7900, which had been launched that 12 months, however using SRM energy meters required staff Columbia-Excessive Street to make use of the older 7800 crankset for compatibility causes.
2011 Specialised McLaren Venge – Worlds
(Picture credit score: Bryn Lennon/Getty Photographs)
2011 World Championships street race – First Brit to win since ’65
Nice Britain
Specialised S-Works McLaren Venge with Shimano
Cavendish’s profession won’t solely be measured by the sheer quantity of his wins but in addition by the breadth of high quality. The rainbow stripes have alluded many greats however not Cav, together with his victory within the males’s street race in Copenhagen added one other layer of gloss to each his palmares and his legend.
Unsurprisingly he captured the title in a dash, holding off the bunch that featured the likes of Matt Goss, André Greipel and Fabian Cancellara. Serving to to place him in place that day was a dream staff that included Bradley Wiggins, Chris Frome, Geriant Thomas, Steve Cummings and David Millar. In successful the street race he grew to become the primary Brit to take action since Tom Simpson in 1965.
The win was additionally vital for the bike used – a Specialised S-Works McLaren Venge that Cav had debuted at that 12 months’s Milan-San Remo. Designed at the side of the motor racing consultants it put him on a devoted aero bike, one of many first sprinters to make the change. A lot of McLaren’s focus went into the carbon layup used, with the end result a frameset that weighed 20% much less that the common Venge however was considerably stiffer, notably within the backside bracket space.
2013 Specialised McLaren Venge – a centesimal win
(Picture credit score: LUK BENIES/AFP by way of Getty Photographs)
2013 Giro d’Italia, Stage 12 – a centesimal profession win
Crew: Omega Pharma – Fast Step
Bike: Specialised McLaren Venge with SRAM
After a 12 months using for Crew Sky Cav joined the Omega Pharma – Fast Step staff. Having received six Grand Tour levels with Sky – three on the Giro and three extra on the le tour, together with his fourth straight win on the ultimate stage on the Champs-Élysées – he was closing in on 100 profession wins.
A fast begin to the 12 months, the place he received 4 levels of the Tour Qatar on option to wrapping up the final classification, had him heading into the 96th version of the Giro simply 4 wins in need of the century mark. He sealed the deal on Stage twelfth, successful a bunch dash at Treviso. He received one other stage – his fifth of the race – serving to him wrap up the ciclamino factors jersey for the primary time in his profession. It additionally meant he’d accomplished the set, having already received the equal classification on the Tour de France and the Vuelta, making him solely the fifth rider in historical past to attain this feat.
Using for Fast Step additionally meant reuniting with Specialised – and notably the McLaren Venge. Nevertheless, apart from the frameset, it was a vastly totally different bike than the one he’d used to such impact in 2011. Whereas HTC had ridden Shimano elements, and its subsidiary PRO, the Belgian staff had been sponsored by SRAM. This noticed Cav utilizing its flagship groupset Crimson, which in these days was nonetheless mechanical in contrast to the Dura-Ace 7970 he utilized in 2011. It additionally meant a pair of Zipp 808 Firecrest wheels, a Zipp cockpit and Look Keo Blade pedals. Apparently this mix of elements noticed his Venge shed some weight from the 2011 iteration, dropping beneath the 7kg mark.
2021 Specialised Tarmac SL7 – Equals Merckx
(Picture credit score: Chris Graythen/Getty Photographs)
2021 Tour de France, Stage 13 – equals Eddy Merckx’s document of 34 stage wins
Crew: Deceuninck – Fast Step
Bike: Specialised S-Works Tarmac SL7
A cursory look at biking’s document books sees one identify seem with higher frequency than another – Eddy Merckx. To problem any of the Belgians long-standing achievements requires not solely otherworldly abilities on the bike however longevity too. Thankfully Cavendish has each.
Merckx’s document of 34 Tour de France stage wins appeared secure for a few years. However Cav’s proficiency on the world’s greatest bike race noticed him chip away on the quantity 12 months by 12 months. However, after 2016, the place he received one other 4 levels to take his complete to 30, the effectively ran dry. He crashed out in 2017, missed the time minimize on Stage 11 in 2018 and wasn’t chosen to race in both 2019 or 2020, his progress slowed by a mix of poor well being, strained relationships and a world pandemic.
Nevertheless, reuniting with Fast Step in 2021 led to a sporting comeback for the ages. Largely written off as previous his prime, he changed injured teammate Sam Bennett simply ten days earlier than the Grand Depart and proceeded to roll again the years. He received levels 4, 6 and 10 earlier than equalling Merckx’s document with a win on stage 13 at Carcassonne.
(Picture credit score: DAVID STOCKMAN/BELGA MAG/AFP by way of Getty Photographs)
The successful bike was one other Specialised, this time the S-Works Tarmac SL7. Whereas away using for different groups Cav’s beloved Venge had been retired by the US model. As an alternative got here the revamped Tarmac, which adopted a number of the Venge’s watt-saving properties to create an aero all-rounder that the Specialised sponsored groups may journey day in, time out, irrespective of the parcours.
The Tarmac was freshly up to date for 2021 – the SL6 grew to become the SL7 – and noticed the bike incorporate fully inside cable routing for the primary time in addition to turning into disc brake solely. Cav’s successful bike featured a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset in addition to Roval Rapide CLX wheels, fitted with S-Works cotton clinchers – the Wolfpack had made a team-wide transfer from tubs firstly of the season.
2024 Wilier Filante SLR – passes Merckx with thirty fifth stage win
(Picture credit score: Getty Photographs)
2024 Tour de France, Stage 5 – document thirty fifth stage win
Crew: Astana Qazaqstan Crew
Bike: Wilier Filante SLR
When Cavendish crashed out of the 2023 Tour it appeared seemingly – to the lots at the least – that his pursuit of stage win quantity 35 was over. However a 12 months later, there he was once more on the Grand Depart. Supported by an Astana staff constructed round him and his purpose, and buoyed by an intensive block of coaching in Greece with Vasilis Anastopoulos, Cavendish appeared quietly assured.
His first likelihood of victory, Stage 3 to Turin, was dashed as he bought held up by a crash within the remaining stretch. He wasted no time nevertheless, successful the following dash alternative in exceptional vogue. It was classic Cav in some ways. With out his regular lead out man Michael Mørkøv he was compelled to improvise; the overhead photographs present him expertly shifting from one wheel to the following earlier than launching a dash that nobody may observe. It was a chic efficiency, becoming of the second.
The bike is becoming too. For this 12 months’s Tour, Cav’s Wilier SLR is decked out in a paint job that celebrates his unbelievable profession. The entrance finish incorporates a hanging mix of colors, every a signifier; inexperienced to characterize the factors jersey he is received twice, yellow to characterize the maillot jaune and blue and pink to symbolise his 2011 World Champs title.
(Picture credit score: Getty Photographs / Tim de Waele)
The colors proceed with additions of yellow and lightweight blue on the decals of hisVision Metron wheelset, in addition to the total quote referenced above on the Wilier built-in cockpit. His bike is accomplished with a 12-Pace Dura-Ace groupset (and sure, his chain did come off once more throughout his record-breaking dash for the road), Vittoria Corsa Professional tires and a few non-team sponsor additions – Elite Chrono CX bidons and a traditional Fizik Arione saddle.
