Bernard Hinault: 'Mark Cavendish can match Merckx's Tour win record'
Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme hails Mark Cavendish as the race's best ever sprinter - Photos by Yuzuru Sunada


Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data), who won a second time in the 2016 Tour de France on Monday, can catch cycling legend Eddy Merckx's record of 34 victories, says Bernard Hinault.
With his win in Angers, the 31-year-old Manxman now sits with Hinault in second place with 28 stage victories behind Merckx.
"Why not?" Hinault said before stage four. "He has 28, Eddy Merckx has 34. He will need six and he is not old. He still has the possibility, I think."
>>> Tour de France 2016: Latest news, reports and info
Hinault gave France its last Tour overall win in 1985 and took up work with race organiser ASO after retirement. Belgian Eddy Merckx, who retired in the 1970s, is considered the best cyclist ever with five Tour wins and wins in every monument. Cavendish said he never thought that he would be considered in the same breath as the two greats when he began cycling.
"Why would he not think of that?” added Hinault. “It's a goal in a career, to say, 'I am capable of going out in search of this trophy.' Even if it is not a trophy, because finally they are victories that accumulate one after the other. That is the most beautiful of all about it."
"Yes, he can do it," Tour race director Christian Prudhomme explained. "Six stages, you don't know. He knows the race perfectly, he knows how to win. It will be very hard because he's 31, but it's possible. We will know at the end of this Tour, if he stays with 28 or if he is at 29 or 30. Already with two stage wins in three days is great."
>>> Are Tour de France sprints getting more dangerous?
Prudhomme first met Cavendish when he won in the 2007 Volta a Catalunya. He said, "Maybe this won't be the last time we are together on the podium."
Cavendish took his first stage win in 2008 in Châteauroux and kept going with three more victories. He returned in 2009 to win six times. In 2012, French newspaper L'Equipe named him as the Tour's best sprinter of all time.
Watch: Tour de France 2016 stage three highlights
"Mark is the best sprinter in the history of the Tour, and not only because he has 28 wins. What struck me is that he loves the Tour, he has such a respect for the Tour, for the yellow jersey," Prudhomme added.
"A few years ago we were in the Tour of Oman, I was next to him and I said there's André Darrigade, do you know him? He said, 'Yes, I know, he won 22 stages. André Leducq won 25 stages, Hinault 28, Eddy Merckx 34.' Wow! And here we were in Oman next to the mosque. So, he has this respect for the Tour."
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.
-
-
Five talking points from stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia 2022
It was a long, hot, and fast day from Parma to Genoa
By Adam Becket • Published
-
Can a classic steel race bike beat a modern superbike?
We fit power meter pedals to a Colnago C68 and a Colnago Master Olympic and ride them back to back to find out what 30 years of progress translates to in the real world. As it turns out? 14 seconds.
By Simon Smythe • Published
-
Mark Cavendish wants to continue for 'at least' two more years
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl sprinter turns 37 this weekend
By Adam Becket • Published
-
'In the end, what can you do?' — Mark Cavendish misses out on Giro d'Italia stage five sprint
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl sprinter distanced by peloton on climb
By Adam Becket • Published
-
Hungarian village set to honour Mark Cavendish by naming bus stop after him
Cavendish changed his bike in front of the bus stop in question, which the village of Zámoly is planning to name after the rider
By Ryan Dabbs • Published
-
Mark Cavendish: I’ve never been the strongest or the fastest but I win
Cavendish praises team as he makes a winning return to the Giro d'Italia
By Richard Windsor • Published
-
Mark Cavendish says stories about a rivalry with Fabio Jakobsen are 'lazy'
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl sprinter says that friction between him and Dutch teammate is the last thing he wants
By Adam Becket • Published
-
Mark Cavendish to lead Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl at the Classic Brugge-De Panne
Manxman will battle it out with the fast men at Belgian race that has become a sprinter's classic
By Adam Becket • Published
-
Mark Cavendish: No one at Quick-Step asked me about riding Milan-San Remo
Fabio Jakobsen to ride the first Monument of the season after Julian Alaphilippe drops out
By Adam Becket • Published
-
Cavendish hails 'special' victory as he becomes first British winner of Milano-Torino
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl rider pays tribute to his team after third victory of the year
By Adam Becket • Published