Mark Cavendish tied the all-time record of Tour de France stage wins when he sped over the finish line at Carcassonne on Friday for a landmark 34th victory in the race. It was Cavendish’s fourth win on the 2021 edition and sees the British sprinter equal Eddy Merckx’s 46-year-old record of Tour de France stage wins.
It is all the more remarkable considering Cavendish’s career looked compromised in December, teamless, without a Tour de France win in five years, and struggling to put a long bout of the tiring Epstein Barr virus behind him.
Cavendish has steadfastly refused to hype the record due to his reverence for the great Belgian Merckx, who also won the Tour de France five times.
Known as the “Manx Missile”, the rider from the Isle of Man made it across the line on Friday just a few centimeters ahead of two sprint rivals to celebrate wildly with his team.
TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE 13 RESULTS
| 1 | CAVENDISH Mark | Deceuninck – Quick Step | 5:04:29 |
| 2 | MORKOV Michael | Deceuninck – Quick Step | 0:00 |
| 3 | PHILIPSEN Jasper | Alpecin-Fenix | 0:00 |
| 4 | GARCÍA CORTINA Iván | Movistar Team | 0:00 |
| 5 | VAN POPPEL Danny | Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux | 0:00 |
| 6 | ARANBURU Alex | Astana – Premier Tech | 0:00 |
| 7 | LAPORTE Christophe | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | 0:00 |
| 8 | GREIPEL André | Israel Start-Up Nation | 0:00 |
| 9 | CORT Magnus | EF Education – Nippo | 0:00 |
| 10 | STUYVEN Jasper | Trek – Segafredo | 0:00 |
OVERALL STANDINGS
| 1 | POGAČAR Tadej | UAE-Team Emirates | 52:27:12 |
| 2 | URÁN Rigoberto | EF Education – Nippo | 5:18 |
| 3 | VINGEGAARD Jonas | Team Jumbo-Visma | 5:32 |
| 4 | CARAPAZ Richard | INEOS Grenadiers | 5:33 |
| 5 | O’CONNOR Ben | AG2R Citroën Team | 5:58 |
| 6 | KELDERMAN Wilco | BORA – hansgrohe | 6:16 |
| 7 | LUTSENKO Alexey | Astana – Premier Tech | 6:30 |
| 8 | MAS Enric | Movistar Team | 7:11 |
| 9 | MARTIN Guillaume | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | 9:29 |
| 10 | BILBAO Pello | Bahrain – Victorious | 10:28 |
RBA/AFP Photos: Bettini