If this is to be the end – Cav a tribute

Where to start on this guy eh?

I won’t be writing about all the obvious stuff, the wins and the worlds and the record breaking feats.

I won’t be writing about the tantrums and the crashes, the road outside Betty’s in Harrogate and the heartbreaking interview with Sporza from the weekend.

Instead I am picking examples of ‘Cavtastic’ moments that won’t have registered with him but have made a massive contribution to my love of cycling.

If it is the end for the great man, what a career it has been.

2007 – London – Tour de France prologue – Buckingham Palace

Our club hired a coach to take in this once in a lifetime experience and we were dropped off in The Mall with a nice view of the Palace and the straight away from the Queens home.

Most of us were there to cheer David Millar as his rehabilitation into the sport continued but there was a fresh faced youngster from the British track programme who was getting a debut with T-Mobile at this race.

At the time it was great for us Brits to have another rider to cheer on home roads. With hindsight we were privileged to have been on the roadside on the opening day on the Tour de France for our nations most successful ever rider at the event.

He showed plenty of the sparkiness and commitment on the 2nd day of that Tour around Kent and we wouldn’t have to wait long before he got his hands in the air on the worlds biggest race.

2008 – Tour de France Stage 5 – Chateauroux

My experience of Cavs first Tour de France stage win wasn’t in central France. My then girlfriend (now Wife) and I were headed to the Lincolnshire coast for a bag of chips and a walk on the beach.

Whilst travelling up the A16 and through Boston she wanted to listen to songs on the radio but I wouldn’t move the dial from BBC 5 Live and the updates from France.

Simon Brotherton called the Manxman home causing scenes of fist waving and screaming in the traffic jam into Skegness that day.

He went on to win 4 stages in that Tour.

Rnk	Rider	Team	Pnt	Time
1	CAVENDISH Mark	Team Columbia	100	5:27:52
2	FREIRE Óscar	Rabobank ProTeam	70	,,
3	ZABEL Erik	Milram	50	,,
4	HUSHOVD Thor	Crédit Agricole	40	,,
5	COOKE Baden	Barloworld	32	,,
6	HUNTER Robert	Barloworld	26	,,
7	DUQUE Leonardo Fabio	Cofidis, le Crédit par Téléphone	22	,,
8	MCEWEN Robbie	Silence – Lotto	18	,,
9	CHICCHI Francesco	Liquigas	14	,,
10	DEAN Julian	Team Garmin – Chipotle	10	,,

2017 – Primus Classic – Brakel Belgium

In the middle of a brilliant weekend of cycling in Flanders with Fendrien we were delighted to see that Cav was down to ride the Primus Classic that weekend.

So we made the very short hop up the hill from Oudenaarde to Brakel and confidently strolled into the start village.

It was great to see the BMC’s and Cervelo’s in the paddock area and we hung around until the riders started to emerge from their buses and gather in the square.

Then it happened, there was a build up of sound and more feet padding around us as Mark Cavendish appeared to sign on.

As he left the podium there were babies thrust in his direction and lots of people shouting for selfies. I remembered that I’d read an interview where he had indicated that polite manners were the only way he’d agree to a picture so after lots of please’s and thank you’s he came over to the friendly English accents and posed for the picture at the top of this post.

He also chatted about his form, not getting picked for the worlds and what he hoped to achieve on that day.

It was a brilliant moment and one i will treasure, even more so if this is to be the end of his career.

As the results show he wasn’t a factor in the finish but we did get to see him on tv that afternoon before his work was done and he dropped out of the front group.

Rnk	Rider	Team	UCI	Pnt	Time
1	TRENTIN Matteo	Quick-Step Floors	200	125	4:36:03
2	DRUCKER Jempy	BMC Racing Team	150	85	0:08
3	GREIPEL André	Lotto Soudal	125	60	0:18
4	GAVIRIA Fernando	Quick-Step Floors	100	50	,,
5	PASQUALON Andrea	Wanty – Groupe Gobert	85	45	,,
6	CARDIS Romain	Direct Energie	70	40	,,
7	VERMELTFOORT Coen	Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij	60	35	,,
8	JANSEN Amund Grøndahl	Team LottoNL-Jumbo	50	30	,,
9	RICKAERT Jonas	Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise	40	26	,,
10	GIRAUD Benjamin	Delko Marseille Provence KTM	35	22	,,

Whilst I hope this isn’t the end for Mark, its clear that coming back to the level he previously was is going to be nigh on impossible now and Sunday could have been the realisation of that fact.

Let’s see what happens now and where he goes from here. I wish him the very best of luck and would like to thank him for all the memories that go alongside the ones charted above.