Mark Cavendish Zdroj: SITA/AP/Gian Mattia D’Alberto/LaPresse
LIMOGES – British cyclist Mark Cavendish fell in Saturday’s eighth stage of the Tour de France and had to retire.
The 38-year-old driver of the Astana Qazaqstan team already announced before the start that this would be his last appearance at the most famous race in the world, and thus he would no longer break the record for the number of stage victories (34), which he shares with the legendary Belgian Eddy Merckx.
One of the best sprinters of the past two decades fell about 60 km before the finish line when he was not careful at the end of the peloton and most likely suffered a shoulder or collarbone injury. Cavendish struggled to get off the ground and after a while got into the ambulance with tears in his eyes, holding his right shoulder.
💔 Mark… #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/7CXUazZrbO
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 8, 2023
The experienced racer was within reach of the record in Friday’s seventh stage with the finish in Bordeaux, when he led for a while in the final sprint, but was eventually overtaken by Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen. He did not fulfill the big goal he set for himself at the end of his illustrious career, and he did not become independent at the head of the historical Tour tables. He shares the first place with Merckx, Bernard Hinault is third in the order with 28 wins, and among the active drivers, Peter Sagan is the highest with twelve, in 16th place. Slovenian Tadej Pogačar has two less.
Cavendish entered the professional ranks as early as 2005 with the German team Sparkasse, he scored his first Tour triumph three years later and since then has collected a total of 34. The last time he enjoyed stage laurels in the most famous race was two years ago, when he triumphed immediately after returning to the QuickStep team four times and also won the green jersey. In addition to his successes at the Tour, he also has 17 triumphs at the Giro d’Italia, three at the Vuelta a Espana, the title of world champion in 2011 and a win at the Milan – Sanremo monument in 2009. He has scored a total of 162 victories.
Author: © List VIDEO: Twitter/Tour Source: TASR
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2023-07-08 14:15:00
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