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Tour de France: Cavendish's record hopes brought to an end as Briton crashes out

The Astana-Qazaqstan rider was looking to become the only man with 35 stage wins on the world's greatest cycling race

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Photo: AP

By Reuters

Published: Sat 8 Jul 2023, 7:28 PM

Mark Cavendish's hopes of breaking the record for stage wins at the Tour de France ended in cruel fashion on Saturday when the Briton crashed out of this year's race, which he has long said will be his last.

The 38-year-old, who will retire at the end of the year, fell off his bike with 64km left in the eighth stage won by Dane Mads Pedersen, and was taken into an ambulance for checks before his withdrawal was made official by race organisers.

The Astana-Qazaqstan rider was looking to become the only man with 35 stage wins on the world's greatest cycling race, to beat the record he shares with Belgian great Eddy Merckx, who bagged 34 victories from 1969-75.

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On Friday, Cavendish came close to achieving his goal when he took second place in the seventh stage in Bordeaux after suffering a mechanical problem in the final straight.

Cavendish held his right arm after crashing on Saturday, lying down in agony, his face a mask of pain and blood on his elbow.

He then held his head in disbelief as he climbed into the race ambulance where doctors strapped up his shoulder.

His withdrawal was effectively confirmed a few minutes later when the ambulance's door was slammed shut, bringing a close to a remarkable Tour de France adventure that started in 2007.

Cavendish, who started as a self-described "boy who wanted to fight the world", won his first stage in Chateauroux in 2008, bursting into the limelight as he claimed another three victories that year.

It was the first of nine Tours in which Cavendish bagged at least a stage win.

Cavendish has repeatedly proclaimed his love for a race that gave him the best moments of his career with two green jerseys for the winner of the points classification, but also the most heartbreaking one on Saturday.

While he was beaten three times in bunch sprints by Belgian Jasper Philipsen, Cavendish clocked the fastest speed in two of them, showing his 14th and last Tour would not just be an easy farewell ride.

It ended in the most brutal fashion in a crash that nobody saw coming in the haze of a sunny afternoon before the expected final sprint on a mostly flat stage.

"The Tour is equally cruel and magnificent," race director Christian Prudhomme said before the Tour started in Bilbao last week.

Cavendish's withdrawal comes on the day Philipsen was beaten for the first time in a sprint this year as the Belgian took second place behind former world champion Pedersen.

Belgian Wout van Aert finished third.

Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard retained the overall leader's yellow jersey with a 25-second advantage over Tadej Pogacar with Australian Jai Hindley in third place, 1:34 off the pace.

Briton Simon Yates crashed some 5.5km from the finish line and lost 47 seconds, slipping down to sixth overall from fifth -- a spot now occupied by his twin brother Adam.

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Reuters

Published: Sat 8 Jul 2023, 7:28 PM

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