The points classification featured one of sport’s greatest comeback stories as Mark Cavendish, a late inclusion for the Tour and without a stage win since 2016, took on all comers in the sprints to win four times.
Cavendish’s quartet of victories saw him equal Eddy Merckx’s record and while he may have missed out in the grand finale in Paris, he is sure to come back next year in search of win number 35 and his own place in history.
Born Rider
Growing up on the Isle of Man, Cav was never far from a bike, starting out in BMX before graduating to mountain biking and then making it onto the track, winning Madison gold at the World Championships with Rob Hales in 2005 and later Bradley Wiggins in 2008.
He and Wiggins reunited to repeat the feat in 2016 but it is on the road where the Manx Missile has made his name.
Joining T-Mobile in 2006 as a stagiaire, he took his chance and in 2008 rode his maiden Grand Tour, claiming two stages at the 2008 Giro d’Italia before grabbing four more on his Tour de France debut.
The following year he won his first Classic at Milan-San Remo, catching Heinrich Haussler in the final to grab an emotional win at La Classicissima and then going on to take six more stages at the 2009 Tour.
Five more Tour stages followed in 2010 and a repeat quintet in 2011 helped him to finally take the green jersey.
That year also saw him win the World Championships in Copenhagen and recognition outside the sport followed as he was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award.
But, after five years with the team that had evolved into HTC-Highroad, Cavendish was seeking a new challenge.
Homecoming Gone Wrong
From the outside looking in, Team Sky was the only logical destination. A Brit world champion riding for a Brit team appeared a match made in heaven as he reunited with GB Cycling boss Dave Brailsford.
However, with Brailsford’s overriding goal to win the Tour de France, Cavendish was always going to play second fiddle to Wiggins, even with him in possession of the rainbow jersey.
Despite winning Stage 21 of the Tour for the fourth straight year, a change was needed and after just one season with Sky, he set sail for Omega Pharma-Quick-Step.
Victory in the points classification at the 2013 Giro completed the set, having also won the classification at the 2010 Vuelta, and it was with the Belgian team that he often looked happiest.
Patrick Lefevere’s men are known for their Classics pedigree and they looked to give Cav more freedom, winning a second Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and taking further top 10s in Milan-San Remo.
Even a switch to Team Dimension Data in 2016 didn’t see his success dry up, claiming four stages to move on to 30 at that year’s Tour but there were signs the following year that he was losing his pace, or maybe something worse.
Familiarity Breeds Success
In truth, despite his quartet of wins in July 2016, Cav struggled to find his form and looked to be heading for retirement as he meandered through a frustrating single season at Bahrain-McLaren in 2020.
Much of his struggles, of course, can be attributed to a diagnosis of Epstein-Barr virus in 2018. However, refreshed and ready to go, he was offered a surprise return to Deceuninck-Quick-Step.
Some strong showings in minor one-day races and four stage wins at the Tour of Turkey suggested promise but the green jersey? No chance, surely?
In fact, Cavendish wasn’t even supposed to be at the Tour. Instead, his team were plotting to pilot last year’s points winner Sam Bennett to a repeat success. However, the Irishman pulled out of La Grande Boucle five days before the race, citing injury, comments that conflicted with team boss Lefevere’s view that he was instead afraid of failure.
As he has so often in the past, Cav took his chance, striking in Fougeres, Chateauroux and Valence. Even then, he did his best to avoid the conversation about equalling Merckx’s record, with one of his idols growing up, David Millar, likening it to Harry Potter characters and their aversion to saying ‘Voldemort’.
With other sprinters either pulling out or not making the time cuts on the tougher days through the Alps and the Pyrenees, the green jersey was his, and he matched Merckx with victory in Carcassonne on stage 13.
Hope grew that having been written off, the 36-year-old could make history with a 35th win. However, it wasn’t to be as he fell short in both Libourne and heartbreakingly on the Champs-Elysées.
More to come?
That by no means signals the end of his career, despite now officially being the best sprinter the Tour has ever seen. Cav will be back in 2022 and after his resurgence this season, few would be surprised if he grabbed stage number 35.
In summarising how far Cavendish has come, it might be best to heed Geraint Thomas’ words from a recent interview. The pair came through the British Cycling system together and the 2018 Tour winner says that back then, his compatriot was just “some chav from the Isle of Man who wanted to be from Liverpool” and drove a gold Vauxhall Corsa.
It is hard not to guffaw at that assessment and Thomas added that even though 15 or so years has passed, “he’s still like that, as well.”
In a sporting world where so much he derived from data and diet, the Manx Missile’s enthusiasm is refreshing. That’s not to say he lacks detail, and his sharp answers in interviews show just how smart he is.
Some may have written him off but after this year at least, let’s hope Cav keeps going!
*All odds correct at time of writing