“I Won’t Lie, I Cried.” The Peloton Reacts After Mark Cavendish Is Forced to Abandon His Last Tour
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“One stage of the Tour de France makes a rider’s career,” said Mark Cavendish in a video posted on his Instagram page five days ago. Cavendish, 38, was at his 14th Tour de France in search of one stage victory to etch his name in the history books as the cyclist with the most Tour stage wins-35 to be exact. But alas, it was not to be.
Yesterday, on stage 8, Cavendish, who announced that he would retire from professional cycling at the end of this season, suffered a crash about 40 miles from the finish line of the 125 mile route from Libourne to Limoges.
“Someone changed line, and he just hit the rear wheel of the guy in front of him and went down,” said Astana-Qazaqstan teammate Gianni Moscon according to NPR.
Television images showed the legendary rider laying on his back with his sunglasses on the ground. Cavendish attempted to elevate his upper body to no avail. As he grimaced in pain while holding his right shoulder it was immediately clear that this injury was more than road rash.
“This is not good news,” said the Tour’s announcer. “Cavendish is holding that right collarbone.”
Within minutes Cavendish was moved to an ambulance. With his shoulder in a sling and his helmet removed, the Tour announcers confirmed the unimaginable: “Mark Cavendish has abandoned the Tour de France.”
Hours later, his team tweeted “@MarkCavendish broke his right collarbone. Moreover because of the fracture an ostesynthesis screw in the acromioclavicular joint (being there since his crash in 2017 Tour de France) is loose.” He was taken to a hospital in France where he is expected to undergo surgery according to ESPN.
The peloton and cycling media reacted quickly to the news.
“I won't lie, I cried,” said Mark Renshaw, Cavendish's lead-out man for nine seasons and Astana-Qazaqstan sprint consultant according to SBS Sport. “Who would’ve thought, in January, that he’d be here running second in the Tour de France and the next day crashing.”
“It’s so sad that such a legend has to finish the Tour like this. Hopefully I can do the last race he’s going to do as well to honor a legend,” said stage 8 winner Mads Pedersen according to Velon CC.
"If you're going to sprint 100 times, he's going to beat me 100 times," said Peter Sagan according to Velon CC.
"It's really, really, a shame,'' said Tadej Pogacar according to the Associated Press. “Everybody wanted to see him go for one more win."
“When I asked him a few weeks ago what he’d like to be remembered for, Mark said he’d want people to look at his story and [realize] the importance of never giving up. Mark Cavendish simply never gave up. In the face of critics, doubters, team non-selection and against the odds themselves, he kept doing what he does, and almost pulled off one final stage win,” posted sports journalist Orla Chennaoui.
Cavendish’s fall came hours after his agonizingly close sprint finish loss to Jasper Philipsen on stage 7. After the race Cavendish explained that he suffered a mechanical mishap-his second of the day-just 50 meters from the finish line.
“Unfortunately, I had a problem with my gears when I was sprinting,” Cavendish said according to Cycling Weekly. “I went from the 11 [sprocket] to the 12 and had to sit down and go back to the 11. It was pretty devastating there, actually. It wasn’t good. I guess it’s not meant to be.”
But no one wants that conclusion. No one.
Especially not the Manx Missile. Cavendish joined Astana-Qazaqstan earlier this year to try for a 35th win after he was left off the Tour de France roster by his former team-Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl. If he retires as planned, fans and critics may wonder what could have been. Until then, Bicycling wishes the sprint legend a speedy recovery.
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