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SORRY MARK CAVENDISH, BUT ALSO EDDY MERCKX ACTUALLY HAS 35 STAGE WINS

Mark Cavendish has become the only record holder in terms of stage wins in the Tour de France, 35 he now has. He thus broke the official record of Eddy Merckx who had 34 in the books.

But with all due respect for breaking the record, we should mention that Eddy Merckx should actually have 35 stage wins behind his name as well. And so Cavendish would not normally be an only record holder yet. Something that very few people – including specialists, journalists and annalists – seem to know.

So where do we get this from?

Well, it’s like this: In 1977, the 18th stage was won by Portuguese Joaquim Agostinho, ahead of his compatriot Antonio Menéndez. Eddy Merckx crossed the finish line in third place. However, the two Portuguese were dropped from the stage results. To this day, the stage is still booked “no winner/no winner,” even though Eddy Merckx is actually the rightful winner.

Why it didn’t happen at the time? Probably because the French at the time were very keen to see Merckx’s reign come to an end and they preferred no more victories by Eddy. Also, with Merckx’s known palmares, it didn’t matter at all back then to claim that extra ride, although so it would make a difference to the record lists today.

Text: Patrick Van Gansen
Cover Photo: A.S.O Charly Lopez

Mark Cavendish, 50th Tour of Turkey 2014 © Tim De Waele
Eddy Merckx © P. Van Gansen

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