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He’s on his last Tour de France in his last season, facing into his last few opportunities to move clear of Eddy Merckx in the all-time Tour record stakes.
But Mark Cavendish wasn’t showing signs of pressure on the eve of the Tour’s first big sprint stage.
The Manxman was soaking up the atmosphere on Sunday’ second day of the race, giving high fives to Basque fans and raving about how fun that experience was.
Stressed about the sprints? There was no hint of that at all.
“I never thought in my career I’d race in Pais Vasco,” he told Eurosport’s Laura Meseguer at the end of stage two, using the Basque name for that region. “I nearly did get to go one year, but I didn’t. So I never raced here.
“It’s been incredible. In the Pyrenees you get the Basque fans and they are the most incredible in the world. It’s been difficult, it’s a hard place to ride a bike, but I’ve loved it. It’s been so nice. I am trying to absorb it, what a way to finish the Grand Départ of my last Tour de France.”
The opening days of most Tours throw something in the direction of the sprinters or, at the very least, don’t make it quite so tough for them.
That familiar rulebook has been thrown out on this edition of the Tour, with those first two days in the Basque region far more difficult than would otherwise be the case.
That is reflected in the fact that Cavendish is already over 40 minutes back, although he undoubtedly has been keeping his powder dry for the days ahead. But if trekking over ten categorised climbs in two days has been draining, the passionate Basque fans have been a welcome boost.
“They are just into it,” he said. “And it’s not for anyone in particular, it’s for the whole race. You feel like a hero around them. It is incredible. They will cheer anyone.
“I don’t know if I can say, but sometimes they give a little push. It’s like a party, it is really, really nice.”
The race now moves into France, with Monday’s stage from Amorebieta-Etxano to Bayonne crossing the border after a quartet of early climbs, and offering terrain more appealing to the big sprinters.
“Hopefully it is [a sprint],” Cavendish said, before referring to the tactics of the GC teams. “They go a bit hard on the climbs for controlling it. You have got Mikkel Bjerg and that from UAE, they just look at the numbers and just [plough away]… Like, ‘calm down.’ All the sprinters on the back [are struggling].
“It should be okay, hopefully, and we can have a nice bunch sprint tomorrow.”
🔥 Absolutely special moment from one of our fans!@MarkCavendish #TDF2023 #AstanaQazaqstanTeam pic.twitter.com/uyNCtehgjM
— Astana Qazaqstan Team (@AstanaQazTeam) July 1, 2023
Renshaw: “I would love to see him take one more victory … he deserves that.”
Estimates vary but Cavendish himself has suggested that there are “maybe seven or eight sprint opportunities” in this year’s race. That boosts his mission of taking at least one win in his final Tour campaign, thus lifting him clear of the 34 stage win record he shares with cycling great Eddy Merckx.
Another boost to his prospects? The recent announcement that former teammate Mark Renshaw will be working with the Astana Qazaqstan team as a sprint and leadout consultant.
Renshaw played an important role for Cavendish as part of the HTC Highroad, Omega Pharma QuickStep and Dimension Data setups, and is clear about his legacy.
“In my opinion, he is the best sprinter we have ever seen,” he told journalists. “And he can win a monument, he can win everything. For me he is the best ever sprinter and I would love to see him take one more victory, because then he would become the most successful in the Tour de France. I think he deserves that.”
The Australian spoke about his role and how it came about.
“With Cav we spoke a lot already over the years,” Renshaw explained. “When he went to Astana I had pitched the idea if I can help, let me know. I can’t ride but I can certainly give some intel and experience from riding with him. I asked can I help. I spoke with Vino [Astana-Qazaqstan general manager Alexandre Vinokourov] there only a few weeks ago and we came to an agreement.”
“It’s amazing that I come back and I have the opportunity to help. To come back and be part of his last year in this team, never did I think that was going to happen. That’s why I am really excited and I am just trying to give as much information and intel as I can.”
Renshaw said that part of his role will include reconnaissance of the sprint stages. He’s already analysed Monday’s third stage, Cavendish’s first big chance, and said he provided “as much intel as possible.
“Everything that I would want as a rider, I am going to give.
“Astana historically are not a sprint based team. That’s taking nothing away from their directors, they have some of the best directors in the peloton. But if I can give any kind of intel that may help, then that’s pretty good.”
Mark Cavendish (r) and Mark Renshaw were teammates for many years, including during Renshaw’s final season at Team Dimension Data in 2019. (Photo by Bas Czerwinski/Getty Images)
Thus far Cavendish has just one win this season, the final stage of the Giro d’Italia. That was a very impressive success at the end of a three week grand tour, but he’ll be up against younger rivals who have clocked up many more victories this year.
How convinced is Renshaw that he can do it?
“I think he is well and truly able,” he answered. “If we look at the best sprinters at the moment, Groenewegen…okay he is also not a young sprinter, he has been around a long time. Jakobsen, last year was his first Tour. Cav has ridden 13. Experience-wise, he is better than a lot of riders. But some riders have better teams.”
That point is very true. Astana is more a general classification squad, and Cavendish’s late addition to the team means he has little in the way of experienced leadout support. So what can he do to overcome that?
“He needs to use other teams. There is no doubt about it,” he said. “We don’t have a leadout. But Cees Bol is going really well. If he needs to take the approach that he put him in the wheel of Groenewegen or Philipsen or whoever, Cav is smart enough that he can come off the wheel.”
We’ll see in the days and weeks ahead if that is indeed the case. It’d be a massive achievement for Cavendish to increase his stage win tally to 35, and massive news for the Tour de France itself.
And for the Manxman’s family and friends? If he clocks up one or more stages in this final Tour, they’ll be partying like the most passionate of the Basque superfans.