I follow cycling passionately and nothing can excite you more than seeing a record broken in one of the cycling races taking place throughout the year. One of the most cherished records was held by Eddy Merckx who had won 34 stages of the Tour de France. He was an all-rounder, so he sprinted, he climbed and won regularly. Many people thought that such a record can never be broken. A cyclist who wins one or more stages is considered a hero, and so when British sprinter Mark Cavendish kept winning stage after stage in sprints, his stage wins were climbing slowly into the 20s, and 30s. By the time he reached 32, many thought he would retire. But then came win number 33, and 2 years ago, came number 34 to tie Eddy Merckx’s immortal tally. Yesterday was stage 5 of this year’s Tour de France, and it was a flat stage, which means that the sprinters would have the upper hand at the finish. And sure enough Mark Cavendish sprinted to victory representing the Astana team, breaking an almost 50 year-old record. Let’s not forget that he also won 17 stages in the Giro d’Italia and 3 stages in the Vuelta of Spain over the last 15 years. Yesterday he was embraced by every other cyclist, especially his team-mates, but especially by his wife and 4 children who went on the stage when he was presented with the 5th stage medal. Mark may win again today as it’s a flat stage, but when it comes to mountain stages, he suffers a lot, and presently he is over an hour behind the present leader Tadei Pogacar of Slovenia. So, today we are honored to say to you ‘Hail Mark!’
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