Cavendish Struggles Through

But don’t write him off yet

- James Shrubsall

If Mark Cavendish was feeling the heat after eight stages in the Tour de France without a win this year, he wasn’t showing it on Saturday evening after the bunch sprint into Amiens.

Just 10 minutes after being ushered into his Dimension Data team bus post-stage in the oppressive afternoon heat, the Manxman veritably bounced back out again with all the vim and vigour of a man raring to ride the whole 181km from Dreux all over again.

Wearing a baseball cap and trademark cheeky grin, he chatted easily with journalists, laughing: “My chain came off; at least it saves me having to think of excuses.

“I’m pretty happy with that,” he added. “The team was good, I felt good.”

Neither does his lack of wins appear to have dissuaded the fans. They thronged eagerly around the bus, wielding various pieces of clothing and Tour tat for him to sign. Having already given his green water bottle to a small boy draped in an oversized Ag2r jersey, Cavendish obliged happily with the autographs, clearly still the Tour’s rock star.

The conclusion of the stage itself, however, was the story of another one that got away — this time the honours went instead to Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen, who recorded a second sprint win in two days. This was Cavendish and Dimension Data’s fifth attempt at putting him on the top spot of the podium. And while each result has been better than the last, his 36th, 35th, 21st, 10th and eighth places are not entirely what team boss Doug Ryder will have been hoping to see at the end of week one, and there is a sense of frustration beginning to creep through.