Mark Cavendish – Mark Cavendish wins second consecutive stage in Turkey — so is he back? – GETTY IMAGES
Mark Cavendish won a second consecutive stage at the Tour of Turkey on Tuesday, rolling back the years for his first back-to-back victories since 2015. The Deceuninck-Quick Step rider looked like his old self as he sat on the wheel of old adversary André Greipel (Israel Start-up Nation) before opening up his sprint and, for the second day running, beating Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix) to the line.
“The fact that I won again gives me a lot of confidence, especially as it’s for the first time in five years or so that I’ve claimed back-to-back stages in a race,” The Briton said. “Doing it in the leader’s jersey makes it even more special.” On Monday, Cavendish had won in similar circumstances, ending his three-year wait for a victory.
Cavendish had suffered a series of setbacks since his last big year in 2016 when he won the world Madison title, four stages of the Tour de France (spending a day in the leader’s yellow jersey), Olympic omnium silver, and finished second at the road world championships. He lost the best part of two seasons to the Epstein-Barr virus, broke his shoulder after crashing out of the Tour de France in 2017, and suffered from depression, which he revealed in an interview with Telegraph Sport last year.
It looked last autumn as if he might have run out of road. In a tearful interview after Ghent-Wevelgem, Cavendish admitted he did not know whether he would race again, with his contract at Bahrain-McLaren coming to an end and coronavirus wreaking havoc with the season.
However, the 30-time Tour de France stage winner agreed on a contract with his old Belgian team, Deceuninck-Quick Step, where he spent three successful seasons between 2013 and 2015. And he has been getting closer and closer to his first win since the Dubai Tour in 2018. The 35-year-old finished on the podium at Scheldeprijs last week.
On Monday, Cavendish paid tribute to his team manager Patrick Lefevere. “Some people didn’t think I could get back to winning, but he did, and for that, I am grateful,” he said. “Just to get back to winning after what I’ve been through in the last couple of years is truly incredible. To win again was emotional, and to hug all my teammates after the finish was amazing.”
Analysis: Next stop Tour de France for Cavendish?
By Tom Cary
Cavendish’s first win in over three years was greeted with tremendous enthusiasm throughout cycling, a sport that reveres its great champions. The Manx rider, second only to Eddy Merckx in terms of Tour de France stage wins and a former world road champion is one of the greatest sprinters in history, and no one wanted to see his career end before he got back to winning ways.
Of course, there will be questions now about what Cavendish 2.0 might be capable of. Could he grow in confidence and become a force in cycling again? Could he — whisper it — add to his 30 Tour stage wins?
It is far too soon to speculate about such matters. The Tour of Turkey is one thing, the Tour de France another. Cavendish needs to win many more races against the best sprinters in the world before Deceuninck-Quick Step even contemplate taking him.
They already have the top sprinter in the world Ir,eland’s Sam Bennett, on their roster (it will be interesting to see whether Deceuninck-Quick Step chooses to keep them apart in the coming weeks). Plus, Cavendish will be 36 next month. Time is very much against him.
But how he won on Monday was encouraging, showing great timing and a good jump as he surged past Greipel to take Philipsen’s wheel before powering into the lead right on the line.
If he never wins another race, Cavendish can be proud that he fought back from so much adversity to return to the winners’ enclosure. Whatever happens from here, he has already won his biggest battle.
