At the start of the year, Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) made his season ambitions crystal clear – wear yellow, win Olympic Gold and claim a second world road race title. One, two, three. He made it sound easy.
At end of the first stage of the Tour de France, he could put a big tick through ambition number one – winning ahead of sprint nemesis Marcel Kittel (Etixx-QuickStep) and Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) at Utah Beach to pull on the first maillot jaune of this year’s race.
For the 31-year-old Dimension Data rider, this was a seminal moment. He has won so many stages in the Tour – 27 to be exact – that they nearly all blur into one, but never before has he pulled on yellow. When asked about the prospect at a pre-Tour de France press conference he dismissed the long-term ambition but there was no hiding his pride on Saturday.
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“I’m so happy. I really wanted to win here today. The lads were incredible. Edvald [Boasson Hagen] did the most incredible turn at the end. He rode out of his skin today. I’m so happy to do this for Dimension Data today,” Cavendish said at the mixed zone.
“It’s quite emotional. This is the only jersey in cycling I’ve not worn. I’ve had all three points jerseys, the Worlds jerseys and the leader’s jerseys in the Giro and the Vuelta and now this. I just wanted to win the stage and to wear this jersey is an honour. I’ve built my whole career on this race.”
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