Three-time green jersey winner Robbie McEwan says he understands why British star Mark Cavendish was axed from this year’s Tour de France.
McEwen participated in the Tour de France on 12 occasions, winning 12 stages including the final stage sprint on the Champs-Elysees in Paris twice.
While his achievements in the race are impressive, they are undoubtedly overshadowed by what Cavendish has produced in the race during his illustrious career.
The 37-year-old was left out of QuickStep Alpha Vinyl’s eight-man squad for the 2022 edition, leaving him level on 34 career stage wins with Belgian legend Eddy Merckx.
While Cavendish was generally amongst the favourites to win the sprint stages, McEwan believes the decision was right for the team.
“It’s sad for Mark, but I understand it from the team’s point of view, and what they have been aiming at for the last year,” he said to online betting site Betway.
“Last year, it was sort of serendipitous. Mark got to step in at the last moment through an injury to Sam Bennett, and he had an incredible tour.
“It was like, ‘wow, here he is again.’ But knowing that they were grooming Fabio Jakobsen for greatness, and for the next Tour, it was to be expected that there was going to be a very tough decision to be made.
“When you put them side-by-side, just purely on performance, you’d go with Jakobsen. But, of course, they’re missing out on a big opportunity to take Mark and break the all-time stage winning record of Merckx.”
With Cavendish now in the veteran stage of his cycling career, his hopes of overhauling Merckx for Tour stage wins now look fairly remote.
Predicting whether anyone will ever come close to their tally is no easy task, particularly with the race now featuring plenty of talented sprinters.
One rider who has been touted as a potential sprinting superstar is Arnaud De Lie, a 20-year-old who is a first-year professional with Lotto-Soudal.
The Belgian has racked up plenty of wins during his debut season, including a victory in the Heylen Vastgoed Heistse Pijl where Cavendish finished behind him.
He was a prolific sprint winner as a junior and many respected pundits believe he has the talent to become a dominant force in the Tour de France over the coming years.
While Caleb Ewan is currently rated as the number one sprinter on the Lotto-Soudal team, McEwan insists De Lie could soon put him under pressure for that spot.
“Caleb might already, very early in his career compared to Cav, find himself in a position where he’s battling to be the top dog in his own team, because De Lie has been slaying them this season, and he’s only going to get better,” he added.
“He hasn’t been put up against the best of the best in the biggest races yet, but he’s only 20-years-old or something. I think he’s the next big thing, and so do a lot of others.”
