Without any apparent difficulty, the British sprinter obtained his 34th stage victory in Carcassonne after a fairly hot day marked by a fall which further weakened the peloton. The Pyrenean streak begins “nicely” this Saturday.
By “braking well” not to overtake him, Michael Morkov looks at the boss on his right. Mark Cavendish is already getting up. As the big cats instinctively know that their prey cannot escape them, the sprinters know the verdict before the photo finish. Doubly beaten, Jasper Philipsen therefore remains at 34 lengths of the record of victories of his incomparable compatriot Eddy Merckx. Unequaled but yet equaled in this register of stage successes on the Tour. The Briton ensures that he did not think about it, swears that he was overcooked and too busy to dive once more on this file which does not fascinate him
“Me, what I want, what I like, is to win!” So he wins, and not just a little. The one who cried in front of the cameras at the arrival of Gand-Wevelgem last fall, the one who believed that his beautiful path of gold, light and rainbow (world champion on the road but also three times on the American track) was going to stop there, in the grayness of a bizarre and failed season against a backdrop of Covid, shines in the July sun. At 36, he became untouchable again. Patrick Lefevere’s outstretched hand was the right one. There is a good chance that their common adventure will continue for a bit.
Two more bullets in the magazine
The precocious abandonment of Caleb Ewan and the absence of a few big names from the “fast and furious circus” cannot tarnish the Cav hunting picture. He’s the summer sprinter. Period. With four successes (out of four sprints disputed, during the first in Pontivy he was out of the game long before), he achieved one of his best scores and he still has, no doubt, two balls to shoot, in Libourne on Friday, and on the Champs-Elysées Sunday. The Wolfpack has lost Tim Declercq, its Flemish wardrobe, but without doubting, the others have taken matters into their own hands. The Cav has given a shot or two with his shoulder and helmet but, rid of his bad reputation, he is no longer as tracked by the commissioners who have nevertheless touched him two words on the subject.
With this 34th round of France, the winner of the San Remo 2019 (after all …) now has, among others, 52 successes on the Grand Tours (15 in the Giro, 3 in the Vuelta where he only appeared twice , abandoning the second very … quickly).
In these times when the champions (Pogacar, Bernal, Evenepoel and company) “are born” very early, its longevity is astonishing. Not his superiority in the home stretch, at least as remarkable as that of Pogacar against the clock and in the mountains …
Fears, cries, curses, chaos …
So Tim Declercq (who now brings up the rear), we left him sitting on the hot tar but not at all comfortable on a small descent as Agel approached. Around him, a new chaos with cries, curses, unfortunate people lost in the thickets, coming back from their plunge without guarantees on all fours, grimacing, cursing against this summer of absolute imbalance. Spectacular like all the bowls that have peeled the riders since the start of Brest, it has made two new victims: Simon Yates who was waiting for his Pyrenees to play us one or two bad tricks and Lucas Hamilton. As Kluge, not well for centuries, had already left for the shelter and Michael Gogl was sleeping in Nîmes, they will only be 151 to advance, a little after noon, towards the first Pyrenean sequence. It should move again towards Quillan where cycling has been celebrated and cherished for ages.
His glorious 34
Little Mark was walking with us in the summer of 2008 when he had the idea for this collection. He started it in Châteauroux then continued three days later in Toulouse, and then in Narbonne and Nîmes. A treat and the promise to come back as soon as possible. Over the summers and the last straights, avoiding or not the pitfalls, a few big bowls, a delay, he “climbed” (it is not however what he prefers) to join Eddy Merckx. A green jersey in Paris by the way (in 2011) and the yellow one worn in 2016. Sacred route.
1 – Cholet-Châteauroux (5th / 2008)
2 – Figeac-Toulouse (8th / 2008)
3 – Lavelanet-Narbonne (12th / 2008)
4 – Narbonne-Nîmes (13th / 2008)
5 – Monaco-Brignoles (2nd / 2009)
6 – Marseille-La Grande Motte (6th / 2009)
7 – Limoges-Issoudun (2nd / 2009)
8 – Vatan-Saint Fargeau (11th / 2009)
9 – Bourgoin Jallieu-Aubenas (19th / 2009)
10 – Montereau-Fault- Yonne-Paris (21st / 2009)
11 – Epernay-Montargis (5th / 2010)
12 – Montargis-Gueugnon (6th / 2010)
13 – Sisteron-Bourg-les-Valence (11th / 2010)
14 – Salies-de-Béarn-Bordeaux (18th / 2010)
15 – Longjumeau-Paris (20th / 2010)
16 – Carhaix-Cap Fréhel (5th / 2011)
17 – Le Mans-Châteauroux (7th / 2011)
18 – Blaye-les-Mines-Lavaur (11th / 2011)
19 – Limoux-Montpellier (15th / 2011)
20 – Créteil-Paris (20th / 2011)
21 – Visé-Tournai (2nd / 2012)
22 Blagnac-Brive (18th / 2012)
23 – Rambouillet-Paris (20th / 2012)
24 – Cagnes-sur-Mer-Marseille (5th / 2013)
25 – Tours-Saint-Amand-Montrond (13th / 2013)
26 – Livarot-Fougères (8e/2015)
27 – Mont-Saint-Michel-Utah Beach (1re/2016)
28 – Granville-Angers (3rd / 2016)
29 – Arpajon-sur-Cère-Montauban (6th / 2016)
30 – Montélimar-Villars-les-Dombes (14th / 2016)
31 – Redon-Fougères (4th / 2021)
32 – Tours-Châteauroux (6th / 2021)
33 – Albertville-Valence (10th / 2021)
34- Nîmes-Carcassonne (13th / 2021)
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