Mark Cavendish on Tuesday won his third stage in this year’s Tour de France — his 33rd overall and one short of Eddy Merckx’s all-time record of 34 stage wins — but said that he is more motivated by inspiring people to overcome difficulties.
At the end of a flat run from Albertville to Valence, the 36-year-old Briton edged Belgians Wout van Aert and Jasper Philipsen over the line to also keep a firm grip on the green jersey awarded to the sprint points leader.
Cavendish was a surprise late inclusion on Team Deceuninck Quick-Step’s tour roster and has seized his opportunity, ending a five-year barren patch in the race with wins on the fourth, sixth and 10th stages.
Photo: AFP
Known as the “Manx Missile,” Cavendish was without a team in December last year, before being taken by former mentor Patrick Lefevere onto the Belgian team, where he has put behind him the after-effects of the tiring Epstein-Barr virus.
“I’ve been blown away by the love and support from around the world,” Cavendish said. “People can be inspired by some kind of comeback if you think things are over, if anyone can use that to get inspired that is the greatest joy for me.”
Cavendish cut a much lighter character when interviewed, after coming over prickly on his previous two triumphs here.
“I didn’t do anything today. They just delivered me. It was phenomenal again,” he said after hitting 63.5kph on the home stretch.
On Sunday, Cavendish scraped over the line just inside the time cut on a major mountain stage, and described this feat as maybe his greatest victory.
“My boss has been talking about me winning a fifth stage on the Champs Elysees,” he said, a feat that would see him surpass Merckx’s long-standing tally. “But I’m just taking it one day at a time, and I’ll keep trying to win stages.”
The 22-year-old defending champion Tadej Pogacar retained the yellow jersey for the overall lead, after keeping a low profile ahead of yesterday’s monster double climb of Mont Ventoux, with its barren, lunar upper reaches.
“Yeah, I didn’t get too involved today. I need to get ready to go full-gas on Mont Ventoux,” the UAE Team Emirates rider said. “There’s no point in me risking everything going for a stage win.”
“I crashed the first day on the tour and I’ve crashed six times this year, so that’s my main stress on these flat stages, keeping out of trouble,” Pogacar added.
The 10th stage embarked from the 1992 Winter Olympics host city of Albertville and took the peloton through the magnificent Rhone Valley, where the 165 survivors from the original 184 starters appeared relaxed after their rest day, all of them having tested negative for COVID-19.
The race ended minutes before a heavy rainstorm lashed the finish line in Valence, halfway between Lyon and Marseille.
A crosswind prelude to the storm picked up 30km out of Valence, wafting the pungent scent of the lavender fields across the open plains.
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