Will he have his dream exit? Mark Cavendish, chasing the record for stage victories in the Tour de France which he co-holds with Merckx (34), missed his chance on Monday in Bayonne in the sprint (6th). There are probably only seven firing windows left at the Manx Missile, including one as early as Tuesday at Nogaro. Their different jerseys had not prevented Geraint Thomas (Ineos) from launching his fellow sprinter, Cavendish (Astana), to victory in Rome in the last stage of the Giro a month ago. “I was just there at the right time and I thought I could give an old brother a hand”, had minimized “G”, dispossessed of the pink jersey the day before.
Renshaw pilot fish
On the roads of the Tour, it is from another friend, his historic pilot fish Mark Renshaw, retired from the pelotons for four years, that he receives help. The Australian, recruited by the Kazakh team as a consultant for massive sprints, provides advice and details to the 2011 world champion thirsty for precision. “If I tell him that at 300 meters, there is a right then left enfilade which does not ask to brake. He trusts me, he does not brake”, says the other Mark, Renshaw, saying all of the complicity between the two men.
“In the last 25 kilometers, I knew exactly how long the climbs were, where to place myself before the roundabouts. It helps a lot. He assured, like all the guys in the team”, praised “Cav” on Monday . “That kind of downhill finish is not the best for me. It suits better with powerful guys like Wout van Aert.”
“Not a problem if the victory is long in coming”
At 38, Cavendish lets go of his last pedal strokes as a professional rider, having announced his retirement at the end of the season in a torrent of tears in the middle of the Tour of Italy. And he enjoys every moment of it. After his long reflective pauses on the stage at the Bilbao exhibition center before answering questions from the press, the leader of Astana dragged himself during the first two stages.
With more than 41 minutes behind the yellow jersey Adam Yates, the Man Express (171st out of 174 runners), more TGV than cogwheel train, was not on the ground he prefers in the badly flat roads of the Basque Country . He took the opportunity to clap the hands of the public in the Pike hill on Saturday. “I loved it, I’m trying to absorb it all, he delivered This is my last big Tour de France start.” The “Cav'” locomotive looks rusty next to Jasper Philipsen, Fabio Jakobsen or Dylan Groenewegen. But, “no one imagined that he could win so much in the 2021 Tour (four stages)”, recalls his friend Mark Renshaw. Monday, it was he who reached the highest peak speed with 73.3 km / h on the radar, according to the organizers.
The unexpected epilogue of the Giro, which the whole peloton had hugged him, also leaves him with hope. “If he crosses the whole Tour without a win and wins on the Champs-Elysées, it has to be made into a film”, in a dream Mark Renshaw. “He’s in a mindset where even if it’s a long time coming, it won’t be a problem.” Even if he only signed one of his 162 victories this year, in Rome therefore. His friend is not worried.
“A different rider on the Tour”
“The most impressive thing about him is his ability to rise in the big races. When the Tour comes around, he’s a different rider. he can take harder, longer and suffer even more. I don’t have never seen that.” After winning just one stage in the 2015 Big Loop, he left Quick-Step, the dream formation of any sprinter, to join Dimension Data, with Mark Renshaw in his luggage. “A lot of people were wondering what we were going to do in this team.” Tour 2016, first stage, victory and yellow jersey.
“I have never finished on a motor racing circuit in the Tour, he describes about the arrival on Tuesday at the Paul-Armagnac circuit in Nogaro. I have known in other races but it might be a little different here.” Theater of the French motorcycle GP in the 1970s, the place seems an ideal place for the man from the Isle of Man, setting of the Tourist Trophy.