[ad_1]
Mark Cavendish ultimately failed to break Eddy Merckx’s historic record of 34 career stage wins after being overtaken by Wout Van Aert on the last stage of the Tour de France on the Champs-Élysées.
Cavendish was expected to surpass the Merckx record with a fifth victory on the Champs-Élysées and a 35th stage victory of his career, but Belgian national champion Van Aert, winner of the time trial of Saturday in St Emilion, led the sprint and stood up to Cavendish, to clinch his third victory of this Tour.
Tadej Pogacar, who at 22 became the youngest rider to win the Tour twice, after winning it last year, crossed the line safely to confirm his second consecutive title for UAE Team Emirates .
Although he failed to add to his previous four wins in the French capital, Cavendish made a remarkable comeback, tying Merckx’s stage winning record and taking the green points jersey for the second time in his career. After winning for the first time since 2016 at Fougères, he went on to win three more stage victories in Châteauroux, Valence and Carcassonne.
This quartet of victories brought him to the level of Merckx, the five-time Tour winner, now 76, who has also won several other titles on multiple occasions. Cavendish’s points tally also sealed success in the points classification, which he first won a decade ago, for the second time, but suffered from it, across the Alps and the Pyrenees. .
Quick guide
Mark Cavendish’s 34th stage of the Tour de France
Show
2008
- Stage 5 – Cholet to Châteauroux
- Stage 8 – Figeac to Toulouse
- Stage 12 – Lavelanet to Narbonne
- Stage 13 – Narbonne to Nîmes
2009
- Stage 2 – Monaco to Brignoles
- Stage 3 – Marseille to La Grande-Motte
- Stage 10 – Limoges to Issoudun
- Stage 11 – Vatan to Saint-Fargeau
- Stage 19 – Bourgoin-Jallieu to Aubenas
- Stage 21 – Montereau-Fault-Yonne to Paris (Champs-Élysées)
2010
- Stage 5 – Épernay to Montargis
- Stage 6 – Montargis to Gueugnon
- Stage 11 – Sisteron to Bourg-lès-Valence
- Stage 18 – Salies-de-Béarn to Bordeaux
- Stage 20 – Longjumeau to Paris (Champs-Élysées)
2011
- Stage 5 – Carhaix to Cap Fréhel
- Stage 7 – Le Mans to Châteauroux
- Stage 11 – Blaye-les-Mines to Lavaur
- Stage 15 – Limoux to Montpellier
- Stage 21 – Créteil to Paris (Champs-Élysées)
2012
- Stage 2 – Visé (Belgium) to Tournai (Belgium)
- Stage 18 – Blagnac to Brive-la-Gaillarde
- Stage 20 – Rambouillet to Paris (Champs-Élysées)
2013
- Stage 5 – Cagnes-sur-Mer to Marseille
- Stage 13 – Circuits in Saint-Amand-Montrond
2015
- Stage 7 – Livarot to Fougères
2016
- Stage 1 – Mont Saint-Michel to Utah Beach (Sainte-Marie-du-Mont)
- Stage 3 – From Granville to Angers
- Stage 6 – Arpajon-sur-Cère to Montauban
- Stage 14 – Montélimar to Villars-les-Dombes (Bird Park)
2021
- Stage 4 – Redon to Fougères
- Stage 6 – Visits to Châteauroux
- Stage 10 – Albertville to Valence
- Stage 13 – Nîmes to Carcassonne
“I was afraid he wouldn’t make it to Paris,” said sprint leader Michael Morkov. “I doubted he would pass the [mountain[ stages but he was really strong.”
“He was never supposed to do the Tour, so to come here, the hardest race of the year with some of the hardest mountains, I have huge respect for him. We stayed with him, paced him through, and I am really proud of what he did and how hard he [worked]. “
[ad_2]
Source link