Knight rider Sir Mark Cavendish rolled away the stone and made it look easier than pushing a hoop downhill. At 39, the Manx Missile did not just sprint into Tour de France history and join Britain’s all-time greats with his record 35th stage win . Cavendish blew a raspberry at Old Father Time himself with a sporting feat for the ages which beggars belief.
Sprinters aren’t supposed to claim the blue riband prizes for speed and power when they are one candle away from checking into Forty Towers on their birthday cake. But nobody can hold a candle to Cavendish now, and he will always cherish the 165th win of his career which took him past Belgian legend Eddy Merckx as the man who breasted the tape more often than any rider in 121 years on Le Tour. A knighthood in last month’s Birthday Honours almost seems insufficient - because Cav is Britain’s undisputed king of the road.
Tour race director Christian Prudhomme’s tribute was pitch-perfect. He said: "Everyone has a smile today - even Eddy Merckx. "Everybody thought it was too late but him.
It is a wonderful story. He is the Yellow Jersey of the sprinters." Stanley Matthews scored for England aged 41, Geoffrey Boycott compiled his final Test century at 40 and Steve Redgrave won Olympic gold, for the fifth Games in a row, as a 38-year-old.
But Cavendish may have topped them all because his chance to join the immortals appeared to have gone. Just four days earlier, he was throwing up in punishing 95-degree heat on the lung.
