Chateauroux (AFP)
Will it soon be called the 'Cavnibale'?
By snatching a 32nd stage victory in the Tour de France on Thursday at Châteauroux, Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck) came within two units of Eddy Merckx's record.
“Don't ask me that question!” Exclaimed the 36-year-old sprinter when asked about his ability to match or improve on this benchmark.
"It's the Tour de France, I live day by day," continued the green jersey, faithful to the mantra he has been practicing since the start of the Grande Boucle.
Before the Grand Départ in Brest, the Briton had already assured that he would "never" think of the record of Merckx, nicknamed in his time "the Cannibal".
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The fact remains that after his resurrection on Tuesday in Fougères, his consecration to the pantheon of stage hunters appears to be a possible result - a feat in itself, the 34 bouquets of the five-time winner of the Tour de France having often been deemed unmatched.
"Normally he didn't even start here (the Briton benefited from the forfeit of his team-mate Sam Bennett), now he's winning his second stage. He's back!"
marveled at the yellow jersey Mathieu van der Poel.
In three sprints contested since the Grand Départ in Brest, the Cav has already hit the mark twice.
The third opportunity, during the 3rd stage, evaporated a few kilometers from the finish in Pontivy, due to crashes which delayed the Briton.
"It's incredible, it's a story that does not end," said Deceuninck boss Patrick Lefevere.
"There were six stages, we won three" including the victory of Julian Alaphilippe during the first stage of the Tour.
- Châteauroux, "an old-fashioned sprint" -
With such a performance, two more victories do not seem insurmountable for the native of the Isle of Man, while five stages listed as flat still await the peloton by the end of the Tour.
His chances of joining Merckx were also multiplied by the fractured right clavicle which forced the Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan to retire after the 3rd stage.
"I am very sad for my friend Caleb," Cavendish commented Thursday.
"He's someone who manages to think about sprints, to slide from wheel to wheel ... I really wanted to measure myself against him during a sprint, it would have been magnificent for the Tour de France", regretted the British.
All the arrivals will probably not suit him as much as that of Châteauroux, where he had already triumphed in 2008 - his first bouquet at the Tour - then in 2011.
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"When I knew I had a finish here, it obviously reminded me of my first win," Cavendish said.
"It's an old-fashioned Tour de France sprint, you can see the finish from afar. Among this type of sprint there are Châteauroux, Paris and Bordeaux, sprints that I have the honor to have all won. "
And even if he refuses to think about the Merckx record, the Cav has gained confidence.
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"The truth is, my victory on Thursday was less of a shock" than that of Tuesday.
"I knew I could do it," said the green jersey.
© 2021 AFP