MALE RIDER OF THE YEAR 1 MARK CAVENDISH

CW gets the inside story behind one of sport’s greatest comebacks

- Vern Pitt

Were we to liken Mark Cavendish’s 2021 to a Hollywood movie we’d probably choose Rocky’s eventual belt-grabbing victory in Rocky 2, or Daniel-san’s crane-kicking triumph in Karate Kid, or perhaps Cole Trickle slingshotting up the inside to win the Dayton 500 in Days of Thunder. But it’s a very different style of movie that comes up when we speak to the Manxman about the aftermath of his barnstorming return to the Tour de France in which he won four stages.

“It was like a comedown. The emotion was so high for three weeks it was a massive crash actually, to just not be there anymore. Then you have to try and readjust to get back to normal.”

Did he need to sleep for a week? “No, I had four of the kids with me. I was up the next morning with the kids, following them around Paris. The three days following the Tour de France were more tiring than the three weeks before it,” he jokes. “But I loved it. The carnage is great. I’m from quite a small family but it’s great having the chaos, it’s like the opening scenes of Home Alone each morning.”

As he says this, the smile on his face is broad and warm. That’s not something fans or the press have seen much of in recent years. If you’re reading this you likely know the story by now but it’s worth swiftly recapping.

The sprinter spent two years grappling with the Epstein-Barr virus and at least with the Epstein-Barr another year with depression. As a result, between February 2017 and April this year, he won only a single race, a stage of the Dubai Tour in 2018. “A few people said maybe I should stop,” he says.