“No sprinter will beat his record” – Mark Cavendish hailed by Sir Bradley Wiggins after equaling Eddy Merckx

Stage 13 of the 2021 Tour de France will be forever remembered by cycling after Mark Cavendish tied Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 wins.

The 36-year-old Briton, who won his first stage in 2008, equaled the legendary Belgian’s remarkable feat in Carcassonne, coming out of a hard-fought peloton sprint to make it into the history books.

Discussions over the record have been inevitable since Cavendish was recruited to replace injured Sam Bennett for Deceuninck-Quick Step for the race, to the point that the Manx himself refused to discuss it.

Now that he’s gotten there, comparisons to five-time Tour winner Merckx are inevitable, but speaking on his latest Eurosport podcast, former Cavendish teammate Sir Bradley Wiggins said the two had to be fully respected.

“You don’t have to compare them,” he said.

“A lot of these are just stupid journalists who need inches of column.”

“He is in the lead with Eddy Merckx in terms of scoring and stage wins, which shows the longevity of Cav’s career, as Merckx’s has been on many Tour de France. Different generations of riders.

“It’s more about whether someone is going to break Cav’s record and I don’t think any other sprinter will. He’s up there with Merckx.

Wiggins reiterated that Cavendish’s accomplishments as a sprinter are what sets him apart and the differences between how he and Merckx reached the incredible milestone.

“You can only compare yourself to other sprinters and that’s why the record is so good. Going through all this madness and chaos and winning four / five stages in each race is f ****** hard.

“Merckx is the strongest in the mountains, but Cav has to get through a whole day of riding and all that shit at the end of it and he’s done it 34 times and it’s better than Merckx in this discipline.

“That doesn’t mean he’s bigger than Merckx [overall] but he’s the best in the sprint. The greatest of all time.

Bernie Eisel, who spent many years alongside Cavendish for a number of different teams, supported Wiggins’ point of view.

“I agree with Bradley, Eddie Merckx was the ultimate rider and that record will stay, but I told Cav earlier today that we can stop the discussion and call you the best sprinter in the world.”

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