Can Cavendish Return To Win At The Tour?

And can he still beat Merckx’s record stage tally? Vern Pitt asks around...

- Vern Pitt

Mark Cavendish’s fall out of the Tour de France after missing the time cut has reignited questions over whether he will be able to return to winning form.

Cavendish rode into La Rosière last Wednesday over an hour behind winner Geraint Thomas, and more than half an hour outside the time cut.

Privately, there are those in the Tour paddock who say Cavendish won’t win another Tour stage, even suggesting he should focus on the track ahead of a bid to win gold in the Madison at Tokyo 2020.

Certainly Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 stages is now significantly more difficult to beat as the Manxman is stuck on 30 for another year. That’s valuable time lost. Cavendish was 31 the last time he won at the Tour, he’ll be 34 before he gets another chance. Merckx was 30 when he won his last stage.

When CW asked Rick Zabel (Katusha-Alpecin) if he’d bet on Cavendish getting to 34 said: “No. But I hope it. It’s always a balance between passion and realism.”

He added: “From the bottom of my heart, I hope he’ll at least win one more stage in the Tour. I’d be happy to see this.”