Mark Cavendish exclusive: The Tour de France ‘is my life’ but all-time stage record is ‘irrelevant’

Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) may be one victory away from claiming the outright record of Tour de France stage wins, but the 38-year-old insists it is “irrelevant” as he gears up for his swansong at cycling’s biggest race.

However with sprint stars Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin–Deceuninck), Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal–Quick-Step) and Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla) among those descending on France, Cavendish faces a bigger ask to land an historic No. 35.

Speaking exclusively to Eurosport for new documentary Mark Cavendish: All In, the Manx Missile said the record was not on his mind ahead of the Tour, which begins in Bilbao, Spain on Saturday.

“It wasn’t a thing! It was never a thing!” Cavendish told Eurosport’s Orla Chennaoui.

Pressed on whether it became a “thing” due to his hot streak – he won 20 stages at the Tour between 2008 and 2011 – Cavendish continued: “I can’t answer because I’m not making it up when I say it’s irrelevant.

“I just want to win as much as I can win. And if I can never win again at the Tour de France…

“There are two people in the world [Cavendish and Merckx] that are more qualified than anybody else to tell you how hard it is to win a Tour de France stage. That’s why if I don’t win one, I’ve won 34, I’m alright. But if I can win 10 more I will be buzzing because I know how hard it is to win one!”

After a glittering 17-year stint in the pro peloton, Cavendish is widely considered the greatest sprinter of all time.

He has won the points classification at all three Grand Tours and counts victories at Milano-San Remo (2009) and the Road World Championships (2011) on his palmarès.

He has also starred in the velodrome and ended his hunt for an Olympic medal with silver in the omnium at Rio 2016, while he has claimed three world titles in the Madison.

On being labelled the “unquestionable GOAT” by Chennaoui, Cavendish took almost 20 seconds to consider his response before saying: “I dunno. You can never comment on that.

“A few years ago I would have gone ‘yeah’. You wouldn’t have even said it, I would have said it! But by saying that I’ve just said it!”

He continued: “I’m very proud of what me, my team-mates and the people around me have done in my career. I’m really proud of that.

“If there’s a book of all the greats in cycling, I want my name in that book. That was what I wanted from my career, to be talked about in the same breath as those riders.”

Cavendish last won at the Tour in 2021, when he grabbed four stages to tie the all-time record, only to fail to make the Tour the following year.

Two years later, and without trusted Quick-Step lead-out man Michael Morkov, he faces arguably his biggest challenge yet to win again in 2023.

“I’m so lucky to be in this exclusive club of Tour de France stage winners. There’s not that many,” added Cavendish.

“For every day that I’ve raced the Tour de France, I’ve won one of every six stages.

“It’s different to everything else. The Tour is amazing. Everything about it is just elevated and it’s my life. It’s been my life, it’s been my career. It’s nice to at least do it this year as well!”

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