BIGGEST STAGE OF ALLA KODA texco

Manx Missile targets record-breaking finale

- MIKE WALTERS

MARK CAVENDISH has set the gold standard for Tour de France sprinters and in the peloton he’s already revered as one in a bullion. 

But if the ‘Manx Missile’ wins a record 35th stage on cycling’s ultimate test of endurance and power, he will no longer belong merely to the ranks of royalty on two wheels. Cavendish will be the greatest of all time.

When they compile Le Tour’s greatest hits album, he said: “I want my name in that book.”

He has no worries on that score. Go past Eddy Merckx, the Belgian legend with whom he shares the record of 34 stage wins, and Cavendish will be on the front cover.

When the peloton sets off from Bilbao today, 16 years after his first ride on the Tour de France, he will be chasing greatness.

Cavendish, who will retire at the end of the season, has already unfurled one fairytale finish on a Grand Tour this year, winning his last-ever stage on the Giro d’Italia in Rome five weeks ago.