return to Châteauroux, in the footsteps of King Mark Cavendish

We bet that his face will light up this Tuesday around noon, at the Palais des Congrès at Porte Maillot, in Paris, when he sees the name of Châteauroux appear on the Tour de France 2025 map. Mark Cavendish has won more often on the avenue des Champs-Élysées (four times in a row, from 2009 to 2012) than on that of La Châtre (three times in 2008, 2011 and 2021), but Châteauroux is definitely the city of its invincibility since “The Max Man”, the man from the Isle of Man, will not return to Indre where the Tour de France will stop off next Sunday July 13. He leaves cycling, at the age of 39, with a record number of stage victories during his last participation last summer: thirty-five!

“Even if no victory in the Tour de France has, in my eyes, more significance than another, Châteauroux will still remain a place apart, because I won my first stage there and I won three times, he says. Mario Cipollini won the only other stage contested at Châteauroux (in 1998)so this city has a real pedigree of sprinters. I don't know if we can really compare it with the sprint finishes on the Champs-Élysées or in Bordeaux, but for me it's a prestigious victory. »

These remarks are made in his book Mark Cavendish, Tour de France (Solar) where he details his triumphant return in 2021 (four victories), after suffering from the Epstein-Barr virus, causing infectious mononucleosis, and a nervous breakdown. No one wanted him anymore, everyone thought he was finished. At the end of 2020, he was drafted by the Belgian team Deceuninck-Quick Step where he agreed to race without salary, because “I viscerally love cycling and the Tour de France”.

The Castelroussin chapter begins like this: “I had sprinted here twice and both times I won. I can describe to you precisely the last five kilometers, every roundabout and every narrowing. It’s an old-fashioned Tour de France sprint, a boulevard. If you look at the road from the finish line, you will see the red flame. You know that if you're started correctly, it's for you, and if it's not, you can manage differently. » The third time, he does it differently.

“Peter (Sagan), shut your fucking mouth! »

160 kilometers long, the stage is carried out at full speed, at an average of 48.765 km/h! The location of the intermediate sprint granting points for the green jersey is established in Luçay-le-Mâle, 56 kilometers from the finish. Peter Sagan accuses Mikael Morkov, Cavendish's thrower, of having locked him in the barriers, and vociferates against the Dane. “I don't like it when someone picks on one of my guys, especially when it comes to Peter Sagan, but I have no shame in saying I don't like him . »

The tone rises between the two stars. Cavendish: “Peter, shut your fucking mouth!” » Sagan : “How can you afford to bring her back?” Just you! » Cavendish : “Do you want me to give you my green jersey? Is that what you want? Do you want me to take it off and give it to you? Here, do you want my gloves too? Do you want these fucking gloves? »

If Peter Sagan is adored by the public, he is not so by many of his peers who note his often disrespectful behavior. “People are falling over him, but I have no problem responding to him given our shared past. » Cav' isn't afraid of it, Cav' isn't afraid of anyone.

Two strong riders, Greg Van Avermaet and Roger Kluge, were caught two kilometers from the finish line. The riders of the Deceuninck-Quick Step team enter Châteauroux in the lead, the spectators can clearly see Julian Alaphilippe's rainbow world champion jersey. Last right turn. Davide Ballerini, another Cavendish man, takes a brutal turn. The speed of the peloton is crazy with a final kilometer calculated at a speed of 69.23 km/h! Cavendish's finish is more forceful than in his beginnings when he developed great velocity, and uses a gear ratio of 54×11 (52×11 previously).

“I took a deep breath and left”

In 2008, he led a very long sprint of twenty-seven pedal strokes, thirteen years later only twelve pedal strokes after noticing an opening on the right and rushing into it thanks to his instinct, perfect technical mastery and tactics. “I took a deep breath and left. Philipsen started, I pulled him up. I knew the moment I squirted that it was won. I even had time to think about how I was going to express my joy. “ Why don't you do the same thing as the other two times? » And that's why I put my hands on my helmet, as I did in 2008 and 2011. I really wanted to refer to this first victory for my return to the Tour. I think it's not anecdotal to win like that in the same place thirteen years apart – it's actually quite extraordinary -, and I wanted to mark the occasion. »

Châteauroux will remain engraved in Cavendish's memory even if you have little chance of seeing him one day on the terrace of the Café de Paris. “I don’t think I would make pilgrimages to Châteauroux or Fougères later (in Brittany, where he won twice) or elsewhere. To me, these places are just finish lines. When I think of Châteauroux, I only think of this Vittel sign (the name of the mineral water brand blocked the arrival gate) across the road. I don't see anything else. It's a finish line. If I ever went back, I probably wouldn't recognize the place. »