Mark Cavendish: I didn’t think I’d go back to the Tour de France

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Mark Cavendish stepped back from years past to claim stage 4 victory of the Tour de France at Fougeres, taking his first victory in the race since 2016.

The Deceuninck-QuickStep sprinter defeated Nasser Bouhani (Arkéa-Samsic) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix) in a win reminiscent of his 2015 win against André Greipel on the same uphill and curved finish.

Overwhelmed with emotion after the win, Cavendish said he never thought he would return to the Tour after several tough seasons that included battles with Epstein-Barr virus and depression.

“I don’t know what to say. Just being here is special enough, you know?” Cavendish said. “I didn’t think I would go back to this race.

“I thought I would never go back to this race. When you come to Deceuninck-QuickStep, they have the best cyclists in the world, so it was just not an idea to come here.”

Cavendish joined the Belgian national team late last year after fearing he would be forced to retire in November. He enjoyed his best season since 2016, with five wins through June, and was a late call-up to the Tour team after Sam Bennett was disqualified with a knee injury.

“The stars lined up,” Cavendish said of his pick. “I never want bad things to happen to others, but after last year it’s nice to have some good luck and health.”

On the way up to the line, Cavendish was assisted by Michael Murkoff and green jersey holder Julian Alaphilippe, as breakaway rider Brent van Muir (Loto Soudal) was caught just 200 meters before the line. After riding the Philipsen wheel at the end, he jumped to the edge of a cliff to win 31st place in the Tour de France.

“Just shoot the whole team,” Cavendish said. We didn’t know if we were going to catch him [Van Moer] in the end. We lost Ballero [Ballerini] Because he lost the speaker in his hurry. Then you see what that team is, you’ve got the green jersey and world champion Julian Alaphilippe – he just came to catch the breakup, just put everything in it. A lot of people didn’t believe in me, and these guys did.”

Mørkøv hailed Cavendish – who is now green – after the stage, praising his willingness to be at that level even though he wasn’t originally a Tour race downhill.

“Mark is a legend and I am really proud to ride with him and bring him back to that level. Before today he had 30 wins in this race and helping him reclaim the win at a high level is a really proud moment too,” said Morkoff.

“He wasn’t even in the dressing room when the team was selected. He arrived at the last minute and today showed he was a real professional bike racer who was primed even though he wasn’t supposed to race. He took his chance and it paid off.”

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