The seemingly bottomless drive that propelled Mark Cavendish past Eddy Merckx to hold the record for stage wins at the Tour de France outright has won him many admirers through his career. But it has also ruffled plenty of feathers among his rivals and sometimes even his own teammates.
His win in Saint-Vulbas on Wednesday that took him to 55 Grand Tour stages wins – 35 and counting at Le Tour, 17 in the Giro d’Italia and three in the Vuelta a España, earned plaudits around the world and a little bristling from some quarters in the peloton.
