Mark Cavendish breaks TDF record: 11 highlights from a trophy-laden career

Mark Cavendish has written history by winning his 35th stage in the Tour de France, surpassing the great Eddy Merckx, widely considered the best cyclist of all time.

The win further consolidates Cavendish's position as arguably the greatest sprinter of all time in cycling.

On the occasion of his final season in the pro peloton and his historic TFD stage win, we've put together a list of highlights from the 'Manx Missile'.

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Cavendish celebrated his first pro win in 2005, when he was riding for Team Sparkasse, a development team of T-Mobile. He won two stages in the Tour de Berlin and the points classification.

Those victories helped Cavendish make a name for himself, although he was still young and had yet to force a big breakthrough into professional cycling.

In 2006, Cavendish signed as a trainee for T-Mobile, a renowned team in the peloton at the time.

This was an important step in Cavendish's career, as it meant he could compete in bigger races and prove himself on the biggest cycling stage.

2007 was an important year for Cavendish as he won the Scheldeprijs, the first major victory of his career. "It's my first success with the pros and what a win!," he said just after the race, according to Cycling Weekly.

With his victory in the Scheldeprijs, Cavendish established himself as one of the best sprinters in the world, as the race is considered by some to be the 'unofficial world championships for sprinters'. Cavendish would win the race again in 2008 and 2011.

Cavendish did not only excel on the road, but also on the track. In 2005, 2008 and 2016, he crowned himself Men's Madison World Champion.

In 2008 and 2016, he did so with Bradley Wiggins, who is said to be a close friend of Cavendish. The two would become teammates at Sky Procycling in 2012, the year in which Wiggins won the Tour de France.

The next step for Cavendish would be to make his mark in the Grand Tours. He started doing so in 2008, taking two stages in the Giro d'Italia.

During his career, Cavendish would win no fewer than 17 Giro stages, according to ProCyclingStats, the last of which was in the 2023 edition of La Corsa Rosa.

That same year, the Manx Missile would also conquer the Tour de France by winning four stages in La Grande Boucle.

It would be the start of an impressive Tour de France record for Cavendish, who would win no fewer than 35 stages in the world's most important Grand Tour.

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2009 was the year when Cavendish reached another milestone in his career. The Brit won Milan-San Remo, beating German Heinrich Haussler in the sprint.

Milan-San Remo is by many experts considered the hardest cycling Monument to win. The fact that Cavendish managed to win 'La Primavera' only makes his career more impressive.

The green jersey in the Tour de France is every sprinter's holy grail. Cavendish managed to win the points classification of La Grande Boucle for the first time in 2011, riding for HTC-High Road.

Cavendish would repeat that feat against all odds in 2021, racing for Deceuninck-Quick Step.

Never two without three. Besides stage wins in the Giro and Tour, Cavendish also triumphed in the Vuelta. He did so in 2010.

Cavendish won three stages in that year's Vuelta and is one of the few riders to have won stages in all three Grand Tours.

In 2011, Cavendish experienced what is perhaps the highlight of his impressive career: he crowned himself UCI Road World Champion in Copenhagen.

Cavendish wrote his name into pro cycling's history books by becoming the first British world champion after Tom Simpson (1965).

Two years later, in 2012, Cavendish excelled in the Belgian classic Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, beating Jawhen Hoetarovitsj and Kenny van Hummel in a bunch sprint.

The Manx Missile repeated that feat in 2015, outsprinting Alexander Kristoff and Elia Viviani this time.

Cavendish is a true cycling legend, and he has written yet another chapter of history in his final year in the peloton. What will be next?

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