Cycling: Mark Cavendish made history. The Brit won his 34th stage of the Tour de France today, drawing level with Eddy Merckx. Exactly 13 years ago today he won his first tour stage.
Cavendish & Morkov celebrate double victory
He actually did it! Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) wins the 13th stage of the Tour de France, making it his 34th overall in the Tour of France. Thus, the Brit draws level with the Belgian legend Eddy Merckx, who is generally regarded as the best cyclist of all time. On the 219,9 kilometer stretch from Nîmes to Carcassonne it was shown once again how strong the Deceuninck – Quick-Step team is. At first the Belgian team was able to control the escapees and finally catch them before completely dominating the sprint approach. The Dane Michael Morkov (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) even made a double victory possible. Jasper Phillipsen (Alpecin – Fenix) was only third.
Escape without a chance
As expected, the escapees didn't really have a realistic chance of winning the stage today. Accordingly, few professionals have even tried it. Ultimately, the peloton left a trio consisting of Pierre Latour (DirectEnergies), Sean Bennett (Qhubeka – NextHash) and Omar Goldstein (Israel Start-Up Nation). But the wild ride came to an end just 50 kilometers from the finish line. Then tried Quentin Pacher (B&B Hotels) as a soloist also in vain.
Kluge, Gogl & Yates have to give up
Unfortunately, there was a relatively large mass fall today as well. Numerous drivers were involved and fell down an embankment on a rough road. It also caught it Simon yates (BikeExchange) and Roger Kluge (Lotto – Soudal). Both had to give up the Tour de France. The Austrian didn't even start this morning Michael Gogl (Qhubeka – NextHash) due to knee problems.
Cavendish pact zijn 34e zege in de Tour en evenaart het record van Merckx #TDF2021 #TDF #Tour de France pic.twitter.com/R2tzFziPBw
— Sporza 🚴 (@sporza_koers) July 9, 2021