“As a team, we weren’t where we wanted to be today. But the guys improvised and I was able to see where I could best place myself and I was able to win. I’m not the strongest physically. It helps if you’re able to use your head,” said Cavendish in his first reaction after the race.
“We just wanted to do it, I still can’t believe it. We put everything on the Tour, it wasn’t certain whether I would be able to ride the Tour at all. We came here with the aim of winning a stage. We wanted to go all-in today and we did it,” added the Astana pro, who at 39 years and 43 days is now the second oldest stage winner in Tour history.
Cavendish makes history
Mark Cavendish has made history at the 111th Tour de France. The 39-year-old Briton took his 35th stage win in total and now holds the sole record for victories, which he previously shared with Belgian cycling legend Eddy Merckx.
Jasper Philipsen (BEL) finished second behind the Briton, with Norwegian Alexander Kristoff in third place. The best Austrian was Marco Haller in 47th place, while Felix Gall came in 96th. As expected, nothing changed in the overall ranking. After his climbing show the day before, Tadej Pogacar, who is wearing the yellow jersey, is still 45 seconds ahead of Belgian Remco Evenepoel and 50 seconds ahead of defending champion Jonas Vingegaard. Felix Gall from East Tyrol follows in twelfth place in the interim ranking, 3:21 minutes behind the leader.
Cavendish fulfills his dream
For Cavendish, a dream came true on the French Atlantic coast with his 165th career victory, which also puts him in second place on the all-time list behind Merckx (275). He wanted to do this one job in his 15th and final Tour participation. But he was already in danger of being eliminated on Saturday when he fought his way to the finish line 39 minutes behind in the tough opening stage and in the great heat.
IMAGO/Belga/David Pintens Mark Cavendish celebrates his 35th victory in the Tour de France
The Brit celebrated his first stage victory on the Tour 16 years ago, and his penultimate in 2021 in Carcassonne. Last year he had to abandon the Tour due to a broken collarbone. However, driven by the ambition to make the record his sole possession, he postponed his retirement and signed for another year with Team Astana. “It was a big gamble for my team boss and the team. You have to go all-in, and that’s what we did. It went exactly as planned,” said Cavendish, adding: “The Tour de France is bigger than cycling.”
Moment of shock for Pogacar
Meanwhile, Pogacar showed no weaknesses in the yellow jersey, but experienced a moment of shock just 60 kilometers from the finish. When passing a traffic island, he narrowly avoided a fall with great skill. While Pogacar reacted quickly, six riders fell immediately behind him. Among them was Gregor Mühlberger from Lower Austria. However, all of them were able to continue the race.
Before the first of two individual time trials of this tour takes place on Friday, the sprinters will be called upon once again on Thursday. On the sixth stage, the professionals will cover 163.5 kilometers from Macon to Dijon. The easy, flat stage offers few major hurdles. At the end, there will probably be another mass sprint on the final 800 meters before the finish.
111. Tour de France
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne – Saint-Vulbas (177 km): 1. Mark Cavendish GBR 4:08:46 2. Jasper Philipsen BEL -“- 3. Alexander Kristoff NOR -“- 4. Arnaud de Lie BEL -” – 5. Fabio Jakobsen NED -“- 6. Pascal Ackermann GER -“- 7. Arnaud Demare FRA -“- 8. Gerben Thijssen BEL -“- 9. Biniam Girmay ERI -“- 10. Marijn van den Berg NED -” – weiters: 36. Tadej Pogacar SLO -“- 39. Jonas Vingegaard DEN -“- 47.
Marco Haller
AUT
-“-
96.
Felix Gall
AUT
-“-
162.
Gregor Mühlberger
AUT + 1:09 Finished after 21 races: 1. Tadej Pogacar SLO 23:15:24 2. Remco Evenepoel BEL + 0:45 3. Jonas Vingegaard DEN 0:50 4. Juan Ayuso ESP 1:10 5. Primoz Roglic SLO 1:14 6. Carlos Rodriguez ESP 1:16 7. Mikel Landa ESP 1:32 8. Joao Almeida POR -“- 9. Giulio Ciccone ITA 3:20 10. Egan Bernal COL 3:21 others: 12.
Felix Gall
AUT
3:21
82.
Gregor Mühlberger
AUT
50:27
111.
Marco Haller
AUT 1:04:39 Graphics: APA/ORF
Stage plan:
29.06. 1. Stage Florence – Rimini (ITA, 206 km) 30.06. 2. Stage Cesenatico – Bologna (ITA, 200 km) 01.07. 3. Stage Piacenza – Turin (ITA, 229 km) 02.07. 4. Stage Pinerolo (ITA) – Valloire (138 km) 03.07. 5. Stage Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne – Saint-Vulbas (177 km) 04.07. 6. Stage Macon – Dijon (163 km) 05.07. 7. Stage Nuits-Saint-Georges – Gevrey-Chambertin (25 km/EZF) 06.07. 8. Semur-en-Auxois – Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises stage (176 km) 07.07. 9. Troyes – Troyes stage (199 km) 08.07. Ruhetaday 09.07. 10. Orleans – Saint-Amand-Montrond stage (187 km) 10.07. 11. Evraux-les-Bains – Le Lioran stage (211 km) 11.07. 12. Aurillac – Villeneuve-sur-Lot stage (204 km) 12.07. 13. Agen – Pau stage (171 km) 13.07. 14. Pau – Saint-Lary-Soulan stage (152 km/BAK) 14.07. 15. Stage Loudenvielle – Plateau de Beille (198 km/BAK) 15.07. Ruhetag 16.07. 16. Stage Gruissan – Nimes (187 km) 17.07. 17. Stage Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux – Superdevoluy (178 km) 18.07. 18. Stage Gap – Barcelonette (179 km) 19.07. 19. Stage Embrun – Isola 2000 (145 km/BAK) 20.07. 20. Stage Nizza – Col de la Couillole (133 km/BAK) 21.07. 21. Stage Monaco – Nizza (34 km/EZF)
BAK = Joint
EZF = Individual Time Trial
Total length: 3,492 km
