By Brad Hubbard | 7/3/2024
If you like to witness historic events then the 2024 Tour de France is for you. In the first five days there have been three historic events with arguably the biggest happening at the end of stage five.
On stage three, Richard Carapaz became the first ever Ecuadorian to wear the yellow jersey (which means he’s first in the overall standings). The same stage, Biniam Girmay became the first black man to ever win a stage of the race and the 2024 edition is the 111th instance of the grand tour. Girmay is from a small African country called Eritrea which is on the Red Sea.
If those two were not enough, 39 year old Sir Mark Cavendish broke through and won his record setting 35th stage of the Tour de France. He was tied with Belgium cycling icon Eddy Merckx who Cavendish tied back in 2021 by winning four stages. The funny thing was, Belgian Wout van Aert prevented Cavendish from a fifth stage win in Paris on the tour’s final day. Perhaps some national pride was on the line for van Aert.
Cavendish wasn’t even at the 2022 Tour de France and last year he was beaten back a few times by Belgian Jasper Philipsen. He then crashed out of the race during stage nine with a busted collarbone. It seemed pretty grim for Cavendish who prior to the 2023 Tour de France had announced that it would be his last. Cycling fans began to resign themselves to the fact that Merckx’s record will only be tied and not broken.
Cavendish changed his mind. After his crash the cycling world made it known that it didn’t want to see the Max Missile go out like that. Cavendish decided to give it one last try in 2024 and he didn’t disappoint. With a team built around him, he overcame apparent heat exhaustion on stage one and crossed the finish line of the grueling stage with the help of his team some 45 minutes after the winner of the stage. He regrouped and while he lost to Girmay at stage three, he was able to maneuver through traffic in the last kilometer and fend off a late attack from the aforementioned Philipsen.
Cavendish may very well go down as the greatest sprinter in the history of cycling. He will certainly go down as one of the toughest. To be able to do what he did at his age is nothing short of extraordinary. His record may one day fall but it won’t for a long, long time. Congrats Sir Mark.
Brad Hubbard.com 