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34! Mark Cavendish matches Eddy Merckx’ Tour de France record

"If any one of my wins can inspire those kids to ride the Tour de France or the Tour de France Femmes next year, that's what means the most to me."

Mark Cavendish Tour de France Record 34 Photo by: Sirotti
July 9, 2021
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It was a historic day at the Tour de France, as Mark Cavendish captured his 34th stage victory. With that win, the Manx Missile matches the all-time Tour de France record of Eddy Merckx.

Mark Cavendish Tour de France
Mark Cavendish on the podium at Stage 13 of the 2021 Tour de France. Photo: Sirotti

You can watch the 108th Tour de France at FloBikes.

The Course
Friday’s fare was a lot like Thursdays: rolling terrain with an early categorized climb. The difference was that Friday was about 60 km longer. It was a very hot day for the riders. Anticipation was high that Mark Cavendish would tie Eddy Merckx’s record.

The route only coaxed three fugitives into flying their flags southwest from Nîmes to Carcassonne. Pierre Latour was first over the day’s only categorized climb, Cat. 4 Cote du Pic Saint-Loup.

At the intermediate sprint, Israel Start-up Nation’s Omer Goldstein hit the line first, and back in the peloton Michael Matthews pulled closer to Cavendish in the points classification but still trailed by 56 points.

The trio of fugitives were lassoed with 50 km to go, which was a long way out for the sprint trains to form and jostle.

Yates the latest victim of crashes

A heavy crash saw multiple riders cascading off the side of the road and down an embankment. Giro d’Italia podium man Simon Yates and his teammate Lucas Hamilton abandon the race, as well as Lotto Soudal’s Roger Kluge. Deceuninck Quick Step’s Tim Declercq was also caught up in the incident and left chasing the peloton on his own.

Even in Declerq’s absence, Deceuninck Quick Step were doing all they could to control the peloton coming into the finish. Cavendish needed a bike change with 39 km to race, but returned safely to the group

Cavendish chases history

A couple of solo attacks flared up on the run in to Carcassonne but the Deceuninck-Quick Step driven peloton extinguished them. Ineos went to the front and tried to split the field in a crosswind.

With the bunch all still together, the final kilometres were tense. DQS established a clean lead out train for Cavendish early, only to have it disrupted in the final corners.

The Manx Missile found the wheel of teammate Michael Morkov in the dying meters of the race, then launched his sprint with barely 100m to go.

Mark Cavendeish takes the win, a historic 34th win, to match the Tour de France record of Eddy Merckx.

After the finish line, Cavendish was visibly exhausted from a long stage in high temperatures and crosswinds.

I went deep. I went so deep, the boys were incredible. It was so difficult in the heat, the wind. I was so at my limit at the end,” said a visibly exhausted Cav, barely able to answer questions after the finish line.

Mark Cavendish Tour de France
Marc Cavendish after the finish of Stage 12 in Carcassonne. Photo: Sirotti

Pressed about whether his achievement had set in yet, Cav was more focused on the moment. “I’ve not realized yet. It’s another win at the Tour de France. It’s just like my first one. I’ve won a stage of the Tour de France. It’s what I dreamed of as a kid, it’s what I dream of now, and I’ve worked so hard for it.” Adding that cycling’s seen an incredible growth in the U.K. in the last decade, Cavendish added “If any one of my wins can inspire those kids to ride the Tour de France or the Tour de France Femmes next year, that’s what means the most to me.”

Saturday sees the Tour return to climbing, with five categorized ascent on tap, including a Cat. 2 peaking 18 km from the finish in Quillan.

Cavendish celebrates his historic moments with Deceuninck – Quick Step teammates Kasper Asgreen and Michael Morkov. Photo: Sirotti

2021 Tour de France Stage 13
1) Mark Cavendish (Great Britain/Deceuninck Quick-Step) 5:04:29
2) Michael Morkov (Denmark/Deceuninck Quick-Step) s.t.
3) Jasper Philippsen (Belgium/Alpecin Fenix) s.t.
59) Guillaume Boivin (Canada/Israel Start-up Nation) +0:18
104) Michael Woods (Canada/Israel Start-up Nation) +4:03
135) Hugo Houle (Canada/Astana-Premier Tech)  +6:15

2021 Tour de France GC
1) Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia/UAE-Emirates) 52:27:12
2) Rigoberto Uran (Colombia/EF Education-Nippo) +5:18
3) Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark/Jumbo-Visma) +5:32
4) Richard Carapaz (Ecuador/Ineos Grenadiers) +5:33
5) Ben O’Connor (Australia/AG2R-Citroën) +5:58
6) Wilco Kelderman (The Netherlands/Bora-Hansgrohe) +6:16
7) Alexey Lutsenko (Kazakhstan/Astana-Premier Tech) +6:30
8) Enric Mas (Spain/Movistar) +7:11
9) Guillaume Martin (France/Cofidis) +9:29
10) Pello Bilbao (Spain/Bahrain-Victorious) +10:28
30) Michael Woods (Canada/Israel Start-up Nation) +1:01:03
62) Hugo Houle (Canada/Astana-Premier Tech) +1:31:37
98) Guillaume Boivin (Canada/Israel Start-up Nation) +1:52:27