Emotion poured out of Mark Cavendish after he claimed his first Tour de France stage win since 2016 to add yet another chapter to his most remarkable of comeback stories.
Stage victories were once routine for the Manxman in cycling’s biggest race – this was number 31 – but there was nothing ordinary about Tuesday’s win in Fougeres.
There was the drama of the race itself – the sprint teams leaving it desperately late to catch breakaway rider Brent Van Moer, denied within 200 metres of the line – before Cavendish overhauled Jasper Philipsen to beat Nacer Bouhanni by a bike length.
"I don't know what to say man"
First words from the 🇮🇲 Manx Missile, fresh from a 31st stage win. @MarkCavendish#TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/9tMygrixNA— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) June 29, 2021
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But more than that there was the backstory – a champion who has battled demons on and off the bike in the five years since his last Tour win, who feared his career was over last winter, but who has grasped the lifeline offered by his old boss Patrick Lefevere and run with it.
After the finish the 36-year-old collapsed in tears as he was congratulated by team-mates and rivals alike, then struggled to find words in his television interview.
“I don’t know what to say,” he said. “Just being here is special enough. I didn’t think I would ever get to come back to this race.
“You just see what a great team this is. You’ve got the green jersey, the world champion Julian Alaphilippe coming to do the final pull just to try to catch the breakaway, putting everything in.
Never in doubt eh, @GeraintThomas86 😜
Congrats, @MarkCavendish #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/TOln8s83umAdvertisement— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) June 29, 2021
“So many people didn’t believe in me but these guys do.”
Cavendish has been written off many times in his long career, but the greatest challenges have come in recent years. A long battle with Epstein-Barr virus and a succession of injuries was followed by a diagnosis of clinical depression in 2018.
Results dried up entirely – he had not a single win in 2019 or 2020 – and was left without a contract heading into 2021.
But after being offered a lifeline by Lefevere at Deceuninck-QuickStep, Cavendish has rediscovered himself.
Watch this without getting emotional 🤗#TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/3GBwUdc1Bh
— Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team (@qst_alphavinyl) June 29, 2021
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to instil in my kids,” said Cavendish, who moves into the points leader’s green jersey with the win. “I was physically sick, I was mentally sick but I just wanted to get back and I knew I couldn’t give up.
“I’ve got to make an example to my kids and for other people to take inspiration from. If you don’t give up, good things will happen.”
Cavendish’s selection for the Tour came thanks to an injury to Sam Bennett, but there is a feeling of the stars aligning, of unfinished business for Cavendish, even if he has long since tired of questions about Eddy Merckx’s all-time record of 34 stage wins.
But that topic will inevitably return given how many more sprint opportunities await in this Tour – the next of them coming on Thursday in Chateauroux – scene of Cavendish’s first Tour win back in 2008.
So awesome seeing @MarkCavendish prove the doubters wrong today 🤫😁 #TDF2021
— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) June 29, 2021
The day had begun with what proved to be a rather half-hearted protest from the peloton about the safety of Monday’s finale after a series of crashes left several bloodied and bruised – with Caleb Ewan and Jack Haig out of the race.
Cyclists’ union the CPA had promised the peloton would stop at kilometre zero to make their point, but it seemed not everybody was on board as they rolled through, the veteran Andre Greipel arguing angrily with colleagues before persuading them to stop – albeit briefly – around a kilometre later.
There were at least no major spills on Tuesday, but four taxing days in Brittany have already created unexpected gaps in the general classification.
That battle for yellow will receive another major shake-up with Wednesday’s time trial, when Mathieu Van Der Poel will surely hand over the yellow jersey.
Who will wrestle it from him remains to be seen – Geraint Thomas and Primoz Roglic rode Tuesday’s stage still feeling the effects of painful crashes 24 hours earlier, and will not enjoy the prospect of 27km on their time trial bikes.
