Cavendish bites the "cannibal" from the Tour throne
The suffering of the past few days has paid off. British rider Mark Cavendish wins the fifth stage of the Tour de France and enters the history books: It is his 35th stage success at the French Grand Tour. With this, he becomes the sole record holder ahead of the legendary Eddy Merckx.
British professional cyclist Mark Cavendish won the fifth stage of the 111th Tour de France and rose to the rank of sole record holder of Tour de France stage wins. The 39-year-old from Team Astana Qazaqstan secured the victory after 177.4 km in Saint-Vulbas in a mass sprint, finishing ahead of Belgian Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Norwegian Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team). Cavendish now has 35 Tour stage wins to his name, surpassing the legendary Eddy Merckx. Merckx, known as "The Cannibal," is considered the greatest cyclist of all time. He won the Tour de France overall title five times between 1969 and 1974.
German sprinter Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) finished sixth in his Tour debut, his best result so far. Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) had to settle for 16th place. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) retained the yellow jersey, finishing with the main field after his victory on the first Alpine stage, as did the other classification leaders.
Originally, Cavendish had planned to retire at the end of last year. However, due to an early withdrawal from the Tour 2023, caused by injury on the seventh stage where he was narrowly beaten by Philipsen, Cavendish decided to stay on for another season. The current Tour has been a challenging one for Cavendish, who looked ill and had to abandon on the first stage.
On Thursday, another flat stage of 163.5 km awaits after Dijon. The favorites for the overall win are once again in focus on Friday at the individual time trial in Gevrey-Chambertin.
Mark Cavendish's victory in the fifth stage of the Tour de France this year, making it his 35th win at the Grand Tour, is a significant achievement in the world of cycling sports. His performance in the Tour de France places him as the sole record holder in this prestigious cycling event, surpassing the legendary Eddy Merckx's record.
