Cavendish joins the all-time greats

Mark Cavendish Tour 2008

Mark Cavendish’s fourth stage win at the 2008 Tour makes him the only rider in the current peloton to have achieved this feat. Alessandro Petacchi managed it in 2003, but is serving a doping suspension.

But where does this put Cavendish in the all-time list of stage winners in a single Tour?

Although many riders have won five or more stages in a single Tour, the majority were in pre-war races. Counting postwar Tours, riders have won five or more stages on only 16 different occasions.

But Cavendish is still in exalted company. He’s equalled Lance Armstrong’s performance in the 1999, 2001 and 2002 Tours, Bernard Hinault in 1981 and Eddy Merckx in 1971. If he surprises us, and sticks around to the end of the race, another win will put him only three behind the all-time record of eight, jointly held by Eddy Merckx, Freddy Maertens and Charles Pélissier.

STAGE WINS IN A SINGLE TOUR

Postwar wins in bold

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Eight stages

Freddy Maertens1976
Eddy Merckx1970, 1974

Charles Pélissier1930

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Seven stages

Bernard Hinault1979
Eddy Merckx1969
Gino Bartali1948

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Six stages

Luis Ocana1973
Eddy Merckx1972

Réné Le Grevès1936

André Leducq1932

Jean Aerts1933

Marcel Buysse1913

François Faber1909

Emile Georget1907

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Five stages

Mark Cavendish 2009
Lance Armstrong2004
Laurent Fignon1984
Bernard Hinault1981
Freddy Maertens1981
Didi Thurau1977
Andre Darrigade1958
Fausto Coppi1952
Hugo Koblet1951

Roger Lapébie1934

Georges Speicher1934

Learco Guerra1933

Raffaele Di Paco1931

Charles Pélissier1931

André Leducq1929

Nicolas Frantz1928

Philippe Thys1922

Jean Alavoine1919

Lucien Petit-Breton1908

Réné Pottier1906

Louis Trousselier1905

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Four stages

Mark Cavendish2008
A. Petacchi2003
Lance Armstrong2002, 2001, 1999
Mario Cipollini1999
Tom Steels1998
J-P Van Poppel1988
Bernard Hinault1982
Cyrille Guimard1972
Eddy Merckx1971
Jacques Anquetil1964, 1963
Edward Sels1964
Rik Van Looy1963
Andre Darrigade1961
Jean Graczyk1960
Charly Gaul1958
R. Hassenforder1956

M. Archambaud1939

Félicien Vervaecke1938

Eloi Meulenberg1937

Sylvère Maes1936

Jean Aerts1935

René Le Grevès1935, 1934

René Vietto1934

Raffaele Di Paco1932

Learco Guerra1930

André Leducq1928

Nicolas Frantz1926, 1925

Ottavia Bottecchia1925, 1924

Louis Mottiat1921

Philippe Thys1920

Honoré Berthélemy1919

Paul Duboc1911

Octave Lapize1910

François Faber1908

Louis Trousselier1906

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Edward Pickering is a writer and journalist, editor of Pro Cycling and previous deputy editor of Cycle Sport. As well as contributing to Cycling Weekly, he has also written for the likes of the New York Times. His book, The Race Against Time, saw him shortlisted for Best New Writer at the British Sports Book Awards. A self-confessed 'fair weather cyclist', Pickering also enjoys running.