By Lehlohonolo Lehana
Britain’s Mark Cavendish has made history in the Tour de France by equalling Belgian great Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 stage wins.
The Deceuninck-Quick Step rider won the sprint into Carcassonne by a few inches ahead of team-mate Michael Morkov.
Briton Simon Yates of Team Bike Exchange abandoned the race following a crash in which several riders fell down a ravine.
Tadej Pogacar of UAE-Team Emirates remains in the leader’s yellow jersey.
Cavendish said afterwards: “I’m so dead – 220km in that heat, in that wind. I went so deep there – they boys were incredible. I can’t believe it.
“A lot of the day I didn’t feel like it would happen, I was so on the limit at the end.
“I haven’t realised it – it’s just another win on the Tour. But it’s what I dreamed of as a kid. I’ve worked so hard for it.”
“It’s tiring,” Cavendish added.
“I can’t even think about (the record). I’m afraid I’m so dead after 220km in that heat, that wind and that finale, phwoar.
“I went deep, I went so deep there. The boys were incredible. I can’t believe it. A lot of the day it didn’t feel like it (was going to happen) but it had to happen because I had the guys riding like they were.
“I was so on the limit there.”
He could yet surpass Merckx’s record, which had stood since 1975, with two more sprints in the final week, ending with the Champs-Elysees finale in Paris, where Cavendish has won a record four times.
It caps a remarkable turnabout in fortune for the sprint specialist who had hinted last year that his career may be over after a run of poor form and illness.
In October, Cavendish suggested he may retire from cycling at the conclusion of the Gent-Wevelgem race in Belgium.
He said that race could be his final one, but signed for Deceuninck-Quick Step for the 2021 season and was drafted onto the team’s Tour de France roster after an injury to his teammate and fellow sprinter Sam Bennett.
The rider turned professional in 2005 and was selected for his first Tour de France, but abandoned the race at stage eight as it reached the Alps.
In 2008, he won four stages and came first in six stages the following year.
He has also won 15 stages in the Giro d-Italia and three in the Vuelta a Espana; cycling’s two other Grand Tours.