Cycling: those who are said to be dead live longer. This proverb also applies to some riders in cycling. In the 2016 season there were at least three impressive cycling comebacks and thus also three surprising winners. They've already been written off, but could come back once more for a big hit. There is also a Swiss and a German.
Mark Cavendish unexpectedly dominates the sprints of the Tour
From 2008 to 2013, Mark Cavendish dominated the sprint arrivals of the Tour de France. With 25 stage wins in six years, he clearly leads this statistic in our generation. But in the years that followed, he was unable to build on his old strength. In 2014 he had to retire due to a fall, but his dominance seemed to be more or less over anyway. The competition cycled him down, above all, of course, the two Germans Marcel Kittel and André Greipel.
In 2015, the Briton won another stage of the Tour, but hardly anyone was seriously counting on him for 2016. His name was only mentioned because of his past successes. But then came July 2016: Mark Cavendish was back to normal. He won four stages of the Tour de France, bringing his tally to 30 victories. Cavendish thus overtook Bernard Hinault (28) and is in second place. After this comeback, he is capable of anything, but he will probably not catch up with Eddy Merckx (34).
Fabian Cancellara celebrates his golden farewell
Just like Mark Cavendish, Fabian Cancellara shaped an entire era. The two rarely got in each other's way because they were able to play to their strengths on different terrain. Cancellara dominated the time trials and cobblestone classics for years. In 2013 he won the double for the second time, consisting of Paris-Roubaix and the Ronde van Vlaanderen. After that, the successes became less, even if he got his victories in some time trials every year and won the Tour of Flanders again in 2014. Younger drivers emerged and new opponents emerged as a result. The Swiss announced the end of his career early on. He still wanted to take the 2016 season with him, but after that it should be over.
With his win at Strade Bianche, he got through the pre-season well. At the Ronde Van Vlaanderen, Spartacus had no chance against Peter Sagan and at Paris-Roubaix, little should come together either. As a farewell, he won the prologue of the Tour de Suisse, but he was no longer able to put his stamp on the Tour de France. His last two races at the Olympic Games in Rio were scheduled for mid-August. In the road race, he was hardly mentioned as one of the favorites and ended up in 34th place. But he was expected to have much better chances in the individual time trial anyway. Although Tom Dumoulin, Chris Froome, Rohan Dennis, Vasil Kiryienka, Tony Martin and Co. were judged to be much stronger, Cancellara dominated the entire field, just like in the old days. In the end he won the gold medal with a whopping 47 seconds ahead of Dumoulin. Only a few athletes are granted such a golden farewell. Chapeau, FABU!
Tony Martin is suddenly his old self again at the time trial
Tony Martin is far from having reached the end of his career. The 31-year-old German started winning as Cancellara and Cavendish a few years later. However, he was also able to help shape your era. As a teammate of Mark Cavendish at HTC-Columbia and Etixx-Quick Step, he was involved in many of the Briton's wins. At the same time, he was allowed to compete for victories in the time trials against Fabian Cancellara. His breakthrough came in 2011 at the latest, when he won his first Tour de France stage and became world champion in the individual time trial. After that, every time trial success was only about him. Because of his powerful, pounding kick, Tony Martin was also respectfully christened “The German Armored Car” internationally. After countless successes in the time trials of this world, Tony Martin wanted to reorient himself. Of course he stayed true to cycling, but he wanted to be successful in another area. It should be the classics.
This change was observed as early as 2015. There was no success - not only in the classics, but now also in the time trials. The younger competition got stronger, but Tony Martin himself got weaker too. The changes in the training schedule have also resulted in a shift in skills. He was only able to win seven times in 2015 and 2016. Because of those numbers and his poor - albeit marred by injury - showing at the Olympics, he wasn't named as one of the top favorites for the World Cup in Doha. But out of nowhere Tony was suddenly there again. He was his old self again. Martin won and didn't give the competition the slightest chance. In 2017 he will start for the Katusha-Alpecin team. There he finally wants to ensure success with the classics.
More retrospective articles:
The big season review: The cycling highlights 2016 - Part 1/2
The big season review: The cycling highlights 2016 - Part 2/2
The big season review: The top drivers 2016
The big season review: The cycling flops of 2016
The big season review: The cycling highlights of 2016 in 30 pictures
The big season review: The cycling surprises of 2016
The big season review: The bad luck in cycling 2016