Can Mark Cavendish pass Eddy Merckx in TDF Stage wins?
 

So I thought Mr. Cavendish was going to be able to do something that seemed insurmountable...pass Eddy in TDF stage wins. Currently Mark has 30 wins while Merckx has 34. He has had a bad string of bad luck as of late with injuries and you have to wonder if he's still got it, and will he have the teammates to support such an effort. At 33 years of age I'm not sure if that's the best age for a sprinter but when he was at his best he could win 5 stages in one TDF. I'd like to see him do it, I'm just not sure if it is that important for him or something he's trying to accomplish. Seemed like it would be a very significant achievement if he indeed do it.

Why are people so preoccupied with quantity rather than quality, it is the quality of EMs stage wins and Palmares that defines his legend.

John.

no.

Mr. Cavendish was truly amazing when he was with HTC. The entire team it seemed was built around him, and he generally came through with a second kick to take the win every time the lead-out train stayed on the rails---which it generally did (though I recall that one time when Mark Renshaw tried to head-butt his way to the front.)

Does Cav still have it? No. Flat and simple. he is too old and has had too many off seasons. if he had stayed healthy, his age wouldn't be a factor ... or as much of a factor. But between lung infections and crashes, he has lost too much (all IMO, of course.)

I'd love to see it work for him, but i don't believe he can compete with the younger guys on the stronger teams.

Whatever ... I enjoyed tremendously watching him in his prime. if he makes a comeback or not, I will always have those memories. (Oh, wait. I forgot how often I forget things.) Anyway .... I don't see him winning a TdF stage. Too few sprint stages, too many teams want the win.

It looks like his best days are behind him.

He looked very bad at the Tour this year. Way out of position in the sprint finishes and he couldn't get through the mountains either. Not good. He's also a sprinter that needs the perfect leadout to deliver him almost to the line. He can't, and never really could, do it on his own like Sagan can.

I'm not sure what kind of guy Mercks was, but Cav is a whining little sheet at times and is generally a pretty unlikable fellow, so I'm not sorry he won't break Eddies record.

Nope. I think Cav is just about done.

^^This.

I don't know if he will surpass the legend, but I think next year he can still take one stage in TDF. As long as he stays up and stays healthy. If not, he pretty much done.

I have seen cycling publications writing about this. I do not know if they are super, super, duper, desperate for a news angle or what gives. Every time this comes up, It makes me want to barf, trying to in some way compare Cav to Merckx. I mean how many climbing stages has Mark ever won. O Oh, that's right he can't even make the time cut anymore. How many times has Cav held the yellow jersey, (1) let alone take it all the way to Paris? (O) Has Cav ever held the Yellow jersey, green jersey and pocca dotted at the same time, like Mercks did in '69. not. I'm just sayin' just comparing stage wins does not even come close to them being comparable.

Which is probably why no one has ever even hinted that their achievements on a bike are in any way comparable ... beyond the number to Tdf stage wins. And---News Flash--- numbers can be compared. 1 is less than 2, 4 is more than 3. Don't be scared. it's okay.

People who really need to have problems will always have problems because they will create problems. So, even after Cav has retired ... there will be other things people can make into problems for themselves. Discs or rim brakes? CF frames and forks? Oh, Noes!

I think Cav's string of unfortunate crashes plays a large part of his lack of wowing us this year. I'm not to sure he has really recovered from the 2017 TdF debacle and the bizarre reasons for several crashes early this season. But like the other big names we've been used too, there are some capable new guys here to challenge them in what seems to me greater numbers than previous times. But maybe it's just that I now pay more interest to pro cycling than the casual interest I used to watch it with and I missed that the same things been happening steadily forever.

No he can't.

Next question - will Marcel Kittel return to the winning form he had in 2014 and 2017?

Great question. I'm not sure what's ailing him. But he's not alone, Kristoff, Degenkolb, Bouhanni and Cav all are hurting these days.

Viviani must be sorry he didn't go to the Tour, because he likely would have taken 3 or 4 stages. Yes, Gaveria looked good, as did Sagan, but I'm not sure they would have looked that good against a strong Kittel and good Cav.

Wouldn't surprise me if Cavendish retired in the next 2 years.

Make way for young blood like Caleb Ewan.

Greipel too. Kittel and Greipel seemed to get in a real mental funk after the 2017 TDF.

[QUOTE=Giacomo 1;20513218]It looks like his best days are behind him.

Let's see: he won the world championship by surfing off other teams' riders

You mean you don't like him? All sprinters moan about being obstructed; all sprinters gesticulate when they think they should have won. However, he's always praised his own team and acknowledged when he's not performed as he thinks he should have done. In those frantic few seconds of the final 2-300 metres very few are entirely rational and very few haven't strayed off line, tho' some of the occasions he's been accused of that, the overhead shots showed a decent sized gap between him and the rider he's assumed to have obstructed.

Relaxed and easy-going sprinters are few and far between.

(As I' a Brit you can assume a certain amount of bias :) )

[QUOTE=atbman;20534171]I've enjoyed watching him over the years, I mean he is one of the greats, but all the other sprinters, besides maybe Bouhanni, seem to be much more personable than Cav and far more easy going, especially with the press. Cav never learned the art of schmoozing and I think that will hurt his legacy with more than a few fans.

Just my humble opinion of course!☺

I hear that Lance is considering a comeback to win his first TDF.

Wow. Hilarious...😒