Cavendish addresses confrontation with mechanic on Tour stage 19
Cavendish addresses confrontation with mechanic on Tour stage 19
Mark Cavendish took to social media on Friday evening to address a public outburst that was caught on video prior to the start of stage 19 of the Tour de France.
“My bike had some problems when I got on it this morning. Despite this, I should not have reacted in the way that I did and not so publicly,” Cavendish wrote later on social media. “I’ve been extremely close friends with my mechanics for over a decade and they’ve worked tirelessly to ensure I’ve always been safe and successful. Although they know how short I can be when I’m stressed, no-one, especially those you care about, deserve to have a voice raised to them.”
Cavendish’s post-stage comments came several hours after he was seen trying out a recently adjusted bike given to him by a Deceuninck-QuickStep mechanic and then banging the front of the bike onto the ground, giving the bike back, shouting his frustration, and storming onto the team bus.
The incident was caught both on TV cameras and by roadside fans, and videos emerged on social media in the aftermath of the stage.
Det klikket for Mark Cavendish før dagens etappe i Tour de France… pic.twitter.com/gxBYYn09yW
— TV 2 Sporten (@2sporten) July 16, 2021
Mark Cavendish, ladies and gentlemen. pic.twitter.com/lls0NyJofM
— Max Vanhove (@MaxBets001) July 16, 2021
In his social media post addressing the incident, the 36-year-old Manxman said that he and the rest of the team had “spoken about what happened” and “would do our best to have a successful finish to” the Tour de France.
With two stages still to go in the race – one of which is likely to end in a sprint – Cavendish is currently tied with Eddy Merckx for career Tour stage wins.
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