Mark Cavendish aims for immortality with another record-breaking Tour de France feat

Knight rider Sir Mark Cavendish will take aim at immortality on his Tour de France encore in Florence on Saturday - on a mission to prove you’re never too old for fairytales.

At 39, the Manx missile reboots his pursuit of a record 35th stage win, which would take him clear of Belgian legend Eddy Merckx as the greatest rider in Le Tour’s 121-year history. And if the first-ever knight of the peloton turns the 111th edition of the world’s greatest bike race into a tale of Florence and the machine aboard his Wilier Filante set of wheels, Cavendish will be untouchable as Britain’s greatest cyclist since Penny Farthing.

He was inches away from invincible prominence in Le Tour's record books last year until he was caught on the line in Bordeaux, cursing a cruel gear malfunction and slipping chain, by a rampaging Jasper Philipsen.

Just 24 hours later, the Manx missile’s pursuit of greatness was over as he crashed out with a broken collarbone - and he feared his last chance of overhauling Merckx disappeared with the ambulance which evacuated him to hospital. But the final curtain has been gathering dust for years waiting for Cavendish to take his final bow.

And with at least five sprint finishes on this year’s route, which finishes in Nice on July 21 because Paris will be heavily-fortified ahead of the Olympics, he only needs one lead-out to go like clockwork for the credits to roll as the peloton sets off on the Grand Depart from Italy.

Yes, it would take a near-miracle for a sprinter to win a stage just 10 months shy of his 40th birthday. And he has won only two races this year - in Hungary and Colombia - among his 164 career wins.

But with Cav, knighted in the King’s Birthday Honours earlier this month, you never say never. He cherishes his place as the most revered sprinter in the race’s pantheon, telling Eurosport: “Everything about the Tour is amazing. It’s been my life, it’s been my career.

So close: Cavendish (left) is pipped by Jasper Philipsen in Bordeaux

“I’m so lucky to be in this exclusive club of Tour de France stage winners, but for every day I’ve raced in it, I’ve won one in every six of them. I’ve always said that wining one stage of the Tour makes a rider’s career, and I’m fortunate enough to have felt that emotion 34 times. It’s just different to everything else.”

Cavendish, whose debut on Le Tour was the 2007 Grand Depart from London - when a pile-up on the run-in to Canterbury denied him the chance to sprint for the leader’s Yellow Jersey - has the unqualified respect of his peers. Former Team Sky sidekick and 2018 Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas, who came third in last year’s general classification for Ineos Grenadiers, is backing him to take the final step into everlasting greatness.

Thomas said: “Cav isn’t scared of anyone. He doesn’t have that feel of, ‘Woah, it’s Philipsen.’ Maybe that will change if he (Philipsen) wins the first two sprints, and he’s the standout really. You’ve got Sam Bennett, [Arnaud] Demare, [Phil] Bauhaus, [Mads] Pedersen, [Bryan] Coquard, [Biniam] Girmay, [Fabio] Jakobsen, [Dylan] Groenewegen, [Arnaud] De Lie… but Cav can beat all of them.

“Looking at that list, I’m not scared of anyone for Cav. He’s got a great chance, I reckon.”

What will Mark Cavendish have for us this year?

Cavendish’s Astana-Qazaqstan team-mates include Michael Morkov and Davide Ballerini, who were part of the Soul Quick-Step lead-out train which teed up his four wins on the 2021 edition of La Grande Boucle.

After his near-miss with glory on the Champs-Elysees three years ago, when Wout van Aert denied him in the finale, and Philipsen’s heist in Bordeaux 12 months ago, Cavendish will be fortified by a huge groundswell of goodwill.

He has been through all sorts - timed out with the broom wagon, crashing out three times, struck down by the Epstein-Barr virus, mental health dips, and a terrifying armed robbery at his Essex home in 2021, which led to long jail terms for two specimens of human detritus. But as he prepares for one last spin with Florence on the magic roundabout, in terms of that 35th Tour stage win, this feels like now or never.

And knowing Sir Cav, he won’t settle for just a knighthood.