The wounds will heal, the broken bones will mend, but the strong flavour of might-have-been will endure, assuming that a banal crash on the road to Limoges does indeed mark the end of Mark Cavendish’s 16-year relationship with the Tour de France. The proviso has its place, because although Cavendish has announced he will retire this season, those of us who have followed his career since his first flirtations with the world of professional cycling have learned that you should never say never in his specific case.
If this is indeed the end, it is better to recall the image from Bordeaux on Friday afternoon, of Cavendish doing what he has done best for 20 years, bursting out of a flat-out, jostling peloton at a speed that looks unnatural to mere mortals; in the case of Bordeaux on Friday, well north of 45mph.
