After the whole cycling world, be that friends, family or rivals, rejoiced as Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) achieved a record 35th stage win at the Tour de France in Saint Vulbas, perhaps the most important reaction was that of the great Eddy Merckx.
Cycling’s all-time greatest rider was, after all, the only man who had stood alongside Cavendish with a total of 34 Tour wins before yesterday’s history-making stage. Which was when the Manx Missile powered away from both the Tour’s sprint field to victory and from Merckx for sole ownership of the stage win record.
