Mark Cavendish's former team manager Rod Ellingworth has backed his chances of winning a record-breaking 35th stage at the Tour de France this July.
Cavendish is set to take part in his final Tour this year, where he will be gunning for at least one last stage win before he retires. He currently shares the record for Tour stage wins with Eddy Merckx, drawing level with the Belgian when he notched up four victories during his most recent Tour appearance in 2021.
Ellingworth, who has managed Cavendish on multiple occasions through his career, from the British Academy in the early noughties through to his World Championships in 2011, as well as at Sky and Bahrain later in his career, is convinced that the Briton can do it.
“Do I see him winning a stage? Yes, I do,” Ellingworth, now manager of Ineos Grenadiers, told a small group of reporters on Tuesday.
“I think if there’s anybody who can pull a stage win out of the hat, it’ll be him, to be honest.
“I think everybody will be behind him and hopefully it’ll be a good celebration. I think he’s working pretty hard from what I can tell, and he’s very focused on this.”
Ellingworth argued that Cavendish's triumph on the final stage of the Giro d’Italia, his first victory of the year, was a big step in the right direction.
“It certainly gave him that confidence. As always, I watched Mark intently in the Giro sprints and on three or four occasions he was in the right place, but for one reason or another it just didn’t work out," Ellingworth said.
“But he’s certainly got the skills and the ambition, so it’ll be quite exciting to see.”
Cavendish was provided with a notable leadout by former teammate and Giro podium finisher Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) in the final stage of the race when asked if he would ‘lend’ Cavendish a rider again in the upcoming Grand Boucle Ellingworth played down the idea.
“I don’t know,” he said with a laugh. "Who knows what’ll happen, eh.”
In a Tour containing far more flat stages this year than in 2022 - when Cavendish did not take part - the Manxman will have roughly eight sprint opportunities to try to claim sole ownership of the record, starting next Monday on stage 3 into Bayonne.
