MACON, France (Velo) — Mark Cavendish and his Tour de France history-making 35th sprint victory to eclipse Eddy Merckx for the all-time stage win record left the peloton in awe.
Oliver Naesen, a Belgian pro who’s crossed swords with Cavendish a few times, said it’s impossible to compare today’s peloton to the era when the Cannibal was smashing records.
“Times are different now, of course,” Naesen told Velo. “Today it’s way harder to win so much, and the era during which Cavendish did it all is just incredible.”
Cavendish’s win Wednesday put him into a club of one with the all-time number of stage victories to eclipse Merckx, who won 34 stages along with five yellow jerseys during his legendary career spanning the 1960s and 1970s.
The question of who is considered cycling’s greatest Tour de France rider is once again a talking point after Cavendish’s eclipsing victory this week.
Naesen said it’s tricky business comparing records when asked about how Cavendish compares to Merckx.
“We are speaking of two completely different eras,” Naesen told Velo. “Mark is the GOAT of sprinters. He is the greatest sprinter of all time by far.”
Mark Cavendish’s palmares:
World Champion
Milano-Sanremo
35 Tour de France stages
17 Giro d’Italia stages
3 Vuelta a Espana stages
2xTour de France points jersey
Giro d’Italia points jersey
Vuelta a Espana points jersey
3xScheldeprijs
2xKuurne-Brussels-Kuurne
Milano-Torino— CafeRoubaix (@CafeRoubaix) July 3, 2024
Cavendish passed the Tour’s other pure sprinter on the all-time list — André Darrigade with 22 — years ago. Others on the stage-win list, Bernard Hinault with 28 and André Leducq with 25 — were GC riders similar to Merckx’s all-round skill set.
Merckx, who retired in 1978, holds just about every significant record in cycling, so for Cavendish to eclipse him on the all-time stage-win list reflects the enormity of the Manxman’s achievement this week at the Tour.
“We when we talk numbers, Merckx is 525 victories. Mark has 165,” Naesen said at Thursday’s start. “That is an incredible number. Sprinter-wise, he is the greatest of all time.”
‘Those days of Merckx are over’
Belgian pro Naesen might remain loyal to Merckx, but cautioned that comparing eras is tricky business.
Merckx, of course, racked up victories in time trials, breakaways, mountain top finishes, prologues, and in bunch gallops, while Cavendish is a pure mass sprint specialists.
Merckx was a giant against a relatively small talent pool in an era that was still mostly Euro-centric, while Cavendish is competing against the absolute fastest and fittest of global sport that’s been transformed by money, technology, nutrition, coaching, and training.
Naesen, who’s won five times across his 11-year career, said everyone in the peloton holds deep respect for what Cavendish has accomplished.
“I would need like 40 careers back-to-back to reach those numbers,” Naesen said with a laugh. “Cavendish is a bit more than a quarter of Merckx’s victories, so that puts it in perspective.”
Can a rider like Tadej Pogačar, who is perhaps the racer most like Merckx to come along in decades, ever come close to the all-time records set by the Cannibal?
“When Merckx raced, he was doing 120 days or more. Cycling has changed. Pogačar wins a lot, but he will never reach those numbers,” Naesen said. “The greatest of today, they do 50 race-day seasons. Just mathematically it is not possible to achieve those numbers anymore.
“Those days of Merckx are over, and those numbers will never repeat,” he said.
‘In the race Cavendish is like a pit bull’
Naesen said Cavendish is like chalk and cheese on and off the bike. During a race, he races like a man obsessed, but is laid back and approachable after the tempers cool, Naesen explained.
“I think it is something in his brain. There is something special about him,” Naesen said. “Sometimes in the race he is a pit-bull, he is so aggressive.
“And later you would meet him in the train station going home, he would be like, ‘hey mate, how are you?’ He’d be smiling and have a twinkle in his eyes,” Naesen said. “Whereas an hour and a half before he was ready to kill you.
“He also performs on revenge or some sort of hate, some insane emotions that must drive him forward in his head,” he said.
“Coming into this Tour de France, when he reads about himself, when people said it would be cool for Netflix, but he’s not going to do it,” Naesen said. “That’s what fuels him. I don’t know him enough, but from the outside, that is the only thing to me that can explain all of his successes in his incredible long career.”
Cav makes history at the Tour
The Manx Missile breaks Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 stage victories and becomes the only rider to win 35 stages of the Tour de France
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#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/ZVWKUMA3j9— Velon CC (@VelonCC) July 3, 2024
Naesen — who is racing his ninth Tour with Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale — turned pro in 2014 when Cavendish was already deep into his legendary career.
“I remember being a junior when he won his first stages. I raced home from school to watch him win his sprints on TV, and that I am here today, what is he [39]? He is still winning, it is just unheard of, unseen,” Naesen said. “The top sprinters just have a period of when they No. 1, maybe one, two, or three years.
“With Cavendish it is two decades. It is just insane.”