Tour de France: Cavendish's record-breaking dream shattered - Pedersen wins
DPA
· 08.07.2023
Mark Cavendish sat with a blank stare in a minibus on a country road in the Dordogne. The dream of becoming the sole record stage winner of the Tour de France had probably been shattered due to carelessness around 60 kilometres before the finish of the eighth stage.
Pedersen beats triple winner Philipsen
The 38-year-old crashed with Spaniard Pello Bilbao and apparently suffered a shoulder injury. The stage in Limoges was won by former world champion Mads Pedersen, who relegated three-time stage winner Jasper Philipsen to second place in the bunch sprint. Phil Bauhaus came away empty-handed on his 29th birthday.
As expected, there were no changes at the top of the overall standings. Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard will ride through the Massif Central in the lead, 25 seconds ahead of Tadej Pogacar. The German Bora team is currently on the podium with captain Jai Hindley in third place. The Australian is 1:34 minutes behind Vingegaard.
"Cavendish abandonment"
The Tour doctor immediately applied a bandage to Cavendish and the creaking Tour radio announced: "Cavendish abandon". Instead of continuing to hope for his 35th stage win, the Manx missile went for an X-ray. "That breaks my heart," wrote Marcel Kittel on Twitter. The Thuringian is the German record holder with 14 stage wins and is a TV pundit at the Tour.
Cavendish announced in May that he would end his career at the end of the year. The former world champion wanted to win his 35th stage in his 14th and final Tour. In doing so, he would have overtaken the legend Eddy Merckx, with whom he is currently tied for first place with 34 stage wins. The day before, Cavendish came close to success in Bordeaux in front of his family, but a problem with his gears meant he had to let the Belgian Jasper Philipsen pass him.
Cavendish changed teams once again before the season to fulfil his big goal. As he did not receive a new contract at QuickStep and had strong competition in Fabio Jakobsen, he signed with Astana. His last Tour was all about the record. "I will regret not being able to savour the moment and all the Tour experience. But I have a job to do," said the professional from the Isle of Man.
Victories, falls and setbacks
The sprinter's Tour history has been characterised by great successes, but also by repeated crashes and setbacks. In 2014, he crashed on the very first stage of the Grand Départ in Yorkshire, three years later Peter Sagan took him out of the race with a dangerous manoeuvre in a bunch sprint. In 2018, Cavendish fell out of the time limit in the mountains, missed the Tour in the following two years and was already facing the end of his career in 2020.
However, QuickStep boss Patrick Lefevere offered him a contract at minimum wage. Cavendish accepted and was surprisingly nominated for the 2021 Tour due to Irishman Sam Bennett's lack of form. There, the Brit amazed riders like in his prime, winning four stages and the green jersey. At the end of May, he won the final stage of the Giro and took his tally of victories to 162. It is questionable whether there will be more to come.
Before the first rest day, another spectacle is on the cards. On Sunday, the legendary Puy de Dôme will be climbed again for the first time in 35 years, when Rolf Gölz finished second behind the Dane Johnny Weitz. His compatriot Vingegaard will try to distance himself from Pogacar. The last 4.5 kilometres with an average gradient of twelve per cent will provide the opportunity to do so.
Copyright 2023, dpa (www.dpa.de). All rights reserved
