Looks like the end of Mark Cavendish’s career at the Tour, he just went down in a minor crash in the middle of the peloton, but apparently suffered a broken collarbone - he’s in the ambulance and has abandoned the race.
He missed last year’s tour after winning 4 stages in 2021 to tie Eddie Merckx’s record total of 34 stage wins in the Tour, and came back this year hoping to break that mark.
He finished second yesterday, taking the lead in a sprint finish but was passed by Jasper Philipsen, who got a clear win for his third stage win in the first week of the Tour. He had moved sideways to get on Cav’s wheel before cranking up his own final sprint, and in so doing took away the path of Girmay, a sprinter in his first Tour. Girmay allowed it to happen, and still had room on the outside between Philipsen and the barrier. Both Girmay’s team and Cav’s Astana team protested the move, looking for Philipsen to get relegated, which would give Cavendish his 35th win, but the race officials kept the result. I think it was the right decision, when I saw it I realized the move was debatable but it was the type of thing they usually let go.
Cavendish had a fantastic career, he was the winner of the final stage in Rome for this year’s Giro d’Italia just a few weeks ago. I didn’t want him to break the great Merckx’s record of 34 stage wins, but it was a tough way for that dream to end.
