The 2024 Tour de France got off to an unusual start. There was no prologue, and it was about to be in the first stage there were serious climbs. The field quickly broke up, the sprinters were thoroughly separated. Mark Cavendish was already fighting to reach the finish line within the time limit and not to be eliminated from the race.
The moment when the food and drink goes backwards from Mark Cavendish’s stomach. Source: X
Cavendish also had health problems. It is not yet known whether the British cyclist was sick from the start for the Tour or whether it was just the high heat that caused it. His teammates tried their best to take care of the Astana veteran, doused him with water and put ice under his shirt.
Then came the dramatic moment, Mark Cavendish vomited on the downhill.
Cavendish crashed last year, in a relatively harmless situation, and gave up the Tour after the 8th stage. We might have thought that this would be the end of the sprinter’s career, but no, at the age of 39, he did it again.
Cavendish also visited Hungary
Cavendish competed in Hungary again this year after the 2022 Giro, as he also started at the Tour de Hongrie and is also in the field of the Tour de France.
What drives it? To get his thirty-fifth Tour stage victory and thus become the sole leader ahead of the Belgian Eddy Merckx.
Cavendish ended up finishing more than 32 minutes behind the leaders. For now, it is questionable whether he can continue the race.
The escape came home, Bardet won the first stage
The stage was won by the Frenchman Romain Bardet, who escaped from the field 50 kilometers from the finish line with his young teammate, the Dutchman Frank van den Broek, and although their advantage gradually decreased, they finally reached home with a 5 second lead.
Tour de France, stage 1, Florence-Rimini, 206 km:
1. Romain Bardet (France, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) 5:07:22
2. Frank van den Broek (Dutch, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) with the same time
3. Wout van Aert (Belgian, Team Visma–Lease a Bike) 5 seconds down
On Sunday’s stage 2, between Cesenatico and Bologna, 199.2 kilometers await the field. The competition ends on July 21, with an individual time trial between Monaco and Nice.