One of the most successful riders in the history of the Tour De France, Mark Cavendish, looks like he will miss out on the chance to make himself a record-breaker in 2022 as clearly made the Giro d’Italia his grand tour focus this year.
Cavendish’s Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl squad is aiming to take the pink jersey in Italy, which means we’re unlikely to see the Manxman surpass the 34 Tour De France stage win record of Eddie Merckx, which has stood for almost 50 years. However, it doesn’t seem to have bothered the rider as rather than talk of the tour, Cavendish told Yahoo Sports that he’s aiming for victories in Italy despite not taking part in the event for almost a decade.
“It’s nine years since the last time I did the Giro, and I won the red points jersey and I won five stages (in 2013),” he said. “It’s a race I’ve always liked to do in the past. Obviously the dynamic (of the race) might have changed in the last nine years, it might not be the race I remember, but we’ll see.”
Cavendish opened his run for the red jersey with a win in the Giro’s third stage.
While fans may be disappointed to see Cavendish lining up in Italy rather than France this year, there’s a good reason why his team has elected to select him; as he alluded to, Cavendish has had success there, winning 15 stages in his last five rides at the event. However, despite those previous positive performances, the optimism doesn’t seem to be shared by others, as he’s not amongst the favorites for the pink jersey in the Giro d’Italia betting odds from Coral. The standout candidate is the Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, who is expected to set the pace from the start with the early stages suiting his style.
The chatter continues around who will be Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl’s sprinter in France. It seems the man likely to take the spot is Fabio Jacobsen, who has had a tremendous start to the season, taking numerous victories, including a stunner in Kurne back in February.
While Jacobsen’s form is indeed worthy of a place on tour, fans will be wondering now if Cavendish will ever get the chance to surpass the record that Merckx set back in 1975. That’s because, at the age of 37, the man from the Isle of Man could decide to bring the curtain down on his career as retirement is something he’s mentioned before.
However, last year, he took heart from his performance on tour as thoughts of hanging up his cycling helmet were firmly put to one side. His four victories which put him level with Merckx, were nothing short of stunning, as Cavendish rolled back the years to show all his experience and tactical nous to beat some of the world’s best sprinters on the biggest stage.
Cavendish has been a mainstay in the field of the Tour de France since his first appearance in 2007, and if his omission this year is a sign of things to come, it will be a shame. So, let’s hope for a positive performance in Italy, and maybe, just maybe, it will mean he’ll be back for one more crack at the tour in 2023.
Lou Gubrious loves to talk about bikes. Especially over a beer. Likes to ride bikes, too. Then drink a beer.