Gallery: Mark Cavendish’s 34 Tour de France wins across 14 years
Gallery: Mark Cavendish's 34 Tour de France wins across 14 years
You can chart the rise, fall and rise again of Mark Cavendish’s career through 14 years of Julys. Over that span, the Manx sprinter has won 34 stages of the Tour de France, equalling a record set by Eddy Merckx in 1975. That record looked like it would be, forever, untouchable – like Merckx’s position as the greatest rider of all time.
Times change. Marianne Vos staked her claim on the GOAT title; a plucky little nugget of muscle from the Isle of Man made a fairytale comeback in the twilight of his career to settle the Tour stage-win score.
Back in 2008, Cavendish was riding in his second Tour de France after a torrid first outing the year before that had seen him depart empty handed, crashing out of the race by stage 8.
By the end of the 2008 Tour, though, the brash young Cavendish had become a household name. He snared four stages that year, six in 2009, five in 2010, five in 2011, three in 2012, two in 2013, one in 2015, four in 2016. And then came the drought.
Cavendish’s long gap between wins at the Tour saw his star fade as he weathered illness and contract uncertainty. In 2019 and 2020, he went winless – not just at the Tour; anywhere at all. At the close of last season, at Gent-Wevelgem, a teary Cavendish wondered aloud whether he’d just ridden his last race.
Thrown a lowly-paid lifeline by Deceuninck-QuickStep, the 2021 Tour de France wasn’t on his agenda. But when Cavendish was called up late to replace last year’s green jersey winner, Sam Bennett, the questions started early, and with them, a growing weight of expectation.
Can you win a stage? Are you going for the record?
As we now know, Cav won a stage, and another, and another, and another. You wouldn’t bet against more.
The veteran sprinter has remembered some old lessons, and learnt some new ones. “I’m a grown-up now. I’m 36 years old, I’m not a 20-year-old boy wanting to fight the world,” he said today.
The 36-year-old Cavendish has broken a 46-year-old record, and there’s a satisfying arc to how he got there – although his strengths and Merckx’s are vastly different, making an even comparison pointless.
But the number’s a big thing. However, though Cavendish seems to recognise the enormity of the moment, there’s still work to be done. “We don’t have time to reflect on it,” he mused, thinking of the Pyrenees that lie between his next two chances for a stage win. “There’s plenty of life left after this to reflect on what we’ve done and on the history we’ve made.”
The book isn’t finished, but that chapter – the Merckx chapter – has, so it seems fitting to take a look back at those 34 wins. A visual record of when an abrasive kid in his twenties sped into the spotlight, and under the gaze of the world grew into a 36-year-old man.
1. In the shimmering heat of Chateauroux in the 2008 Tour de France, a young Cavendish claimed his first stage win, ahead of Oscar Freire, Erik Zabel and Thor Hushovd. 
2. Three days later, in altogether different conditions, he made it two. 
3. After a crash between wins, he was back to the top again on stage 12, pipping Sebastian Chavanel (Francaise des Jeux) and Gert Steegmans (QuickStep-Innergetic). 
4. His fourth and final stage win of the 2008 Tour de France came in NImes, Cav crossing the line with his arms dramatically asunder. Second place: Robbie McEwen (Silence-Lotto), Oscar Freire (Rabobank) in third out of frame, and Romain Feillu (Agritubel) offering congratulations. 
5. In 2009, Cavendish was back at the Tour and back to his winning ways on stage 2 in Monaco. 
6. On stage 3, Cav was repping the team’s sponsor, doing a little ‘call me’ pose for Taiwanese mobile phone company HTC. In this year, Cavendish had a fearsome lead-out train at his disposal… as you can see, with four of them celebrating behind him. 
7. Stage 10 in 2009, Cavendish again beat familiar foe Thor Hushovd to the line. 
8. A day later, it was Tyler Farrar’s turn to be first runner up. Farrar would not trouble the UCI with his sock height that season. 
9. Into Aubenas on stage 19, It was Cavendish ahead of eventual green jersey winner Thor Hushovd, with Gerald Ciolek (Milram) in third. 
10. Cavendish rounded out the 2009 Tour de France in magnificent form, winning by a massive margin on the Champs Élysées and claiming his sixth win of the race. Showcasing the team’s strength, Cavendish’s faithful lead-out man Mark Renshaw finished in second. 
11. Stage 5, 2010: Another Tour, another win. Cavendish took this one ahead of Gerald Ciolek (Milram) and a young Edvald Boasson Hagen (on the newly formed Team Sky). 
12. A day later, it was Tyler Farrar’s turn to again be second behind Cav. Alessandro Pettachi (Lampre-Farnese Vini) finished third. 
13. On stage 11, it was Cavendish again with a comfortable win. Behind him, it was Petacchi up to second, Farrar down to third. 
14. Into Bordeaux on stage 18, 2010, Cavendish had time for a leisurely look back at Julian Dean (Garmin-Transitions) in second, Petacchi in third. 
15. On the famed cobbled boulevards of Paris, Cavendish took his fifth stage win of the 2010 Tour. Petacchi had won two stages during that year’s race but was Mr Consistency otherwise to narrowly beat Cavendish to the green jersey. 
16. In 2011, Cavendish opened his account for that year with a snarl on stage 5, beating golden-era Philippe Gilbert (Omega-Pharma Lotto) and Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Team Movistar). 
17. On stage 7, Cavendish beat Hushovd and Romain Feillu to the line in Châteauroux. 
18. On sodden roads, stage 11, it was Cav ahead of great rival Andre Greipel. 
The two had a lively rivalry, and are both competing in this year’s Tour de France as well-established, beloved veterans of the bunch. 
19. Wearing green, Cavendish beat a younger, less-hairy Daniel Oss (Liquigax-Cannondale) and Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervelo) to the line in Montpellier, stage 15, 2011. 
20. And in Paris, he made it five wins for the Tour, and won the green jersey for the first (and so far only) time. 
21. A year later, Cavendish had jumped teams to Team Sky. On stage 2, wearing the rainbow jersey of world champion, he beat Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol) and Matt Goss (Orica GreenEdge) to open his account for 2012. 
22. On stage 18, 2012, Cavendish blasted past a broken Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) to an utterly dominant victory in Brive-la-Gaillarde. 
23. In the year that Bradley Wiggins opened Team Sky’s long victory streak at the Tour de France, Cavendish put a cherry on top in Paris. Behind him was a rising Slovakian star, Peter Sagan, who claimed his first of what would be many green jerseys. 
24. Cavendish’s time with Team Sky was short-lived, and – wearing the national champion’s jersey of Great Britain and riding for Omega Pharma QuickStep – he won stage 5 of the 2013 Tour into Marseille, France. Behind him: former teammate Edvald Boasson Hagen, Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol). 
25. Stage win number two for 2013 came into Saint-Amand-Montrond. 
Compared to previous seasons, though, Cavendish had younger, stronger rivals to contend with. After four consecutive years winning on the Champs Élysées, Cavendish was supplanted by a tall, handsome German with immaculate hair. The Kittel era had begun. 
26. Having crashed out of the 2014 Tour de France on home roads on stage 2, Cavendish had a fire in his belly for 2015. His sole stage win of that year’s Tour came on stage 7, ahead of familiar foes: Greipel, Sagan and Degenkolb. 
27. In 2016, not much was expected of Cavendish – but he got on a roll on stage 1 into Utah Beach, picking up the first yellow jersey of the race as well. 
28. Two days later, Cavendish beat Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) and Bryan Coquard (Direct Energie) to the line in Angers. 
29. Stage 6, 2016: Cavendish denied Marcel Kittel and countryman Dan Mclay (Fortuneo Vital Concept). 
30. Having won four stages in both 2013 and 2014, Kittel was frustrated by his form and Cavendish’s resurgence on stage 14 of the 2016 race. He would get his revenge the next year: Cavendish wouldn’t win for the next five years, and Kittel would pick up five stages in his absence in 2017. 
31. Into Fougères on stage 4 of the 2021 Tour de France, there was a familiar, unexpected winner. 
32. Cavendish proved it wasn’t a fluke on stage 6… 
33. … and again on stage 10, ahead of Wout van Aert and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix). 
34. Cavendish equalled the Merckx record on the road into Carcassonne. Again, it was a demonstration of the power of a good lead-out: Michael Mørkøv finished just behind him in second.
Next stop: Paris?