Mark Cavendish says ‘special’ Tour de France is ‘above the sport’ and opens up about his mindset

Mark Cavendish has described the Tour de France as “above the sport” as he stressed how special the event is.

Cavendish has a unique relationship with the Tour, having won a record-breaking 34 stages in cycling’s most prestigious race, the same number as Belgian great Eddy Merckx.

He is expected to try to beat the record this year with new team Astana Qazaqstan after being overlooked by Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl to join the tour last season.

“It’s crazy because you think you know your way around cycling,” Cavendish told Eurosport pundit Adam Blythe of the Tour’s importance.

“I explain to anyone who has never been to the Tour de France that there are amateurs who think they know cycling. But they can’t imagine what it’s like to race as a pro, that’s another level.

“Then you have to go from pro to WorldTour, that’s an obvious step up. But the Tour de France isn’t just about moving up, it’s above the sport

“They have the 170 best motorcyclists in the world. None of them are really doing their first Grand Tour, none of them are really coming back from injury, none of them use the Grand Tour to prepare.

“The consequences of winning and losing this race are so much bigger than anything else. So you have the top 170, all at their fitness peak for the year, all with not only the eyes of the cycling world on them, but the eyes of the world on them. It’s pretty crazy, not even just in racing.

“Everything around him is just bigger, the highs, the lows. It’s so special.”

Cavendish’s first Tour stage win came in 2008 and he has won four times on the Champs-Elysees, considered a highlight for the sprinters each year.

He became world champion, Olympic medalist and has since had several more stage wins in major races, and at the age of 37 he is still widely regarded as a menace among sprinters.

Blythe told Cavendish: “For a lot of people [given] Their success and what they had they would have said, ‘brilliant, right, that’s it, I’m done’. But you’re still here, you’re still going.”

Cavendish replied: “I feel guilty for being the one who did it to everyone else. Nobody looks at what I’ve done in any way because I’ve never looked at what I’ve done. I always set a goal, try to achieve it, and then set another goal.

“Obviously it put me in this position that I can’t really appreciate 161 wins because I have to keep winning, you have to get better every year. It’s not just in cycling, it’s in every sport, it’s in life.”

When asked what made him do it, Cavendish continued: “You just do it. you can’t rest

“It’s one thing I teach my kids, don’t rest on what you’ve done. Keep pushing forward. I will support my children in everything they do.

“The only thing I ask is a commitment to improve and not give up. ‘Don’t give up’ is the most important thing in my opinion.”

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