Historical comparison: How good was Mark Cavendish really?

He did it again: at the Singapore criterion Mark Cavendish sprinted across the finish line in first place for the last time in his career. The victory in the show competition in the Far East has only symbolic value. Other races in his career are much more important - his most significant success probably came this summer. It was 3 July 2024, when Cavendish won on the Stage 5 of the Tour de France 2024 made history. Over the 177.4 kilometres between Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and Saint-Vulbas, the 39-year-old took his 35th stage win in the Tour of France and secured the sole record, which he previously shared with Eddy Merckx (34 stage wins).

Merckx is a good keyword. After all, the Belgian appears ahead of Cavendish in some of cycling's most important statistics. Firstly, there is the list of the most professional victories, which Merckx leads, but then comes Cavendish.

Most professional victories in the history of cycling*

1. Eddy Merckx (Belgium) 279
2. Mark Cavendish (Great Britain) 165
3. Mario Cipollini (Italy) 163
4. Roger De Vlaeminck (Belgium) 162
5. Rik van Looy (Belgium) 161
6. André Greipel (Germany) 158
7. Sean Kelly (Ireland) 158
8. Erik Zabel (Germany) 150
9. Alessandro Petacchi (Italy) 149
10. Freddy Maertens (Belgium) 148
11. Francesco Moser (Italy) 147
12. Bernard Hinault (France) 146
13. Giuseppe Saronni (Italy) 143
14. Laurent Jalabert (France) 140
15. Alejandro Valverde (Spain) 133
16. Miguel Poblet (Spain) 129
17. Domingo Perurena (Spain) 124
18. Tom Boonen (Belgium) 122
19. Peter Sagan (Slovakia) 121
20. Jacques Anquetil (France) 121

*Only wins as a professional were included in this statistic - team time trials were not counted - Source: Procyclingstats.com

Logically, and due to the nature of cycling, many sprinters can be found at the front of these statistics and have more victories than most classification riders. Moreover, such historical comparisons of figures are always difficult and should be viewed with a twinkle in the eye, as cycling has changed enormously over the years. It is therefore all the more remarkable that Cavendish has collected 165 professional victories over almost 20 years with an ever-increasing density of performance in the peloton, making him the strongest of his guild as far as sprinters are concerned.

The only rival from Cavendish's generation who is hot on his heels is André Greipel. The former top German sprinter, who ended his career in 2021, fought many fierce duels with Cavendish, especially during the 2010s, and achieved a total of 158 professional victories - seven fewer than his rival from the Isle of Man.

There is a second statistic that is extremely impressive in view of Cavendish's outstanding career. The 39-year-old has won a total of 55 stages in the three major national tours. 35 of them at the Tour de France, 17 at the Giro d'Italia and three at the Vuelta a Espana. Only two riders have more: Eddy Merckx (64) and Mario Cipollini (57).

Riders with the most stage wins at the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana*

1. Eddy Merckx (Belgium) 64 - 24 Giro, 34 Tour, 6 Vuelta
2. Mario Cipollini (Italy) 57 - 42 Giro, 12 Tour, 3 Vuelta
3. Mark Cavendish (Great Britain) 55 - 17 Giro, 35 Tour, 3 Vuelta
4. Alessandro Petacchi (Italy) 53 - 27 Giro, 6 Tour, 20 Vuelta
5. Alfredo Binda (Italy) 43 - 41 Giro, 2 Tour, 0 Vuelta
6. Bernard Hinault (France) 41 - 6 Giro, 28 Tour, 7 Vuelta
7. Delio Rodriguez (Spain) 39 - 0 Giro, 0 Tour, 39 Vuelta
8. Learco Guerra (Italy) 39 - 31 Giro, 8 Tour, 0 Vuelta
9. Rik van Looy (Belgium) 37 - 12 Giro, 7 Tour, 18 Vuelta
10. Freddy Maertens (Belgium) 35 - 7 Giro, 15 Tour, 13 Vuelta
11. Fausto Coppi (Italy) 31 - 22 Giro, 9 Tour, 0 Vuelta
12. Costante Girardengo (Italy) 30 - 30 Giro, 0 Tour, 0 Vuelta
13. Gino Bartali (Italy) 29 - 17 Giro, 12 Tour, 0 Vuelta
14. Francesco Moser (Italy) 27 - 23 Giro, 2 Tour, 2 Vuelta
15. Marino Basso (Italy) 27 - 15 Giro, 6 Tour, 6 Vuelta
16. Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia) 26 - 6 Giro, 17 Tour, 3 Vuelta
17. Guido Bontempi (Italy) 26 - 16 Giro, 6 Tour, 4 Vuelta
18. Giuseppe Saronni (Italy) 26 - 24 Giro, 0 Tour, 2 Vuelta
19. Miguel Poblet (Spain) 26 - 20 Giro, 3 Tour, 3 Vuelta
20. Raffaele Di Paco (Italy) 26 - 15 Giro, 11 Tour, 0 Vuelta

*Source: Procyclingstats.com

André Greipel is the best German in these statistics in 30th place with 22 Grand Tour stage wins (7 Giro, 11 Tour, 4 Vuelta). If there's anyone Cavendish has to fear in the near future when it comes to his position in these leaderboards, it's Tadej Pogacar.

The Slovenian already has 26 Grand Tour stage wins to his name - and he's only 26 years old. Although the reigning road world champion doesn't quite have half of Cavendish's 55 successes in the bag, Pogacar has only been riding Grand Tours since 2019, i.e. for five years. If the Slovenian can maintain this level for another ten years, he could overtake Cavendish and probably Eddy Merckx too. However, this is a purely speculative projection.

As far as Cavendish is concerned, it would be presumptuous to limit the sprinter and his career to the Giro, Tour or Vuelta. With Milan-San Remo, he has won one of cycling's five monuments and Cavendish was road world champion in Copenhagen in 2011. He has also won the Madison World Championship on the track three times - in 2005 with Rob Hayles and in 2008 and 2012 with Bradley Wiggins. He also won a silver medal in the omnium at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Cross-discipline successes that very few have been able to celebrate in the history of cycling.

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All of Mark Cavendish's stage wins at the Tour de France at a glance

1. Tour de France 2008, 5th stage
2. Tour de France 2008, 8th stage
3. Tour de France 2008, 12th stage
4. Tour de France 2008, 13th stage
5. Tour de France 2009, 2nd stage
6. Tour de France 2009, 3rd stage
7. Tour de France 2009, 10th stage
8. Tour de France 2009, 11th stage
9. Tour de France 2009, 19th stage
10. Tour de France 2009, 21st stage
11. Tour de France 2010, 5th stage
12. Tour de France 2010, 6th stage
13. Tour de France 2010, 11th stage
14. Tour de France 2010, 18th stage
15. Tour de France 2010, 20th stage
16. Tour de France 2011, 5th stage
17. Tour de France 2011, 7th stage
18. Tour de France 2011, 11th stage
19. Tour de France 2011, 15th stage
20. Tour de France 2011, 21st stage
21. Tour de France 2012, 2nd stage
22. Tour de France 2012, 18th stage
23. Tour de France 2012, 20th stage
24. Tour de France 2013, 5th stage
25. Tour de France 2013, 13th stage
26. Tour de France 2015, 7th stage
27. Tour de France 2016, 1st stage
28. Tour de France 2016, 3rd stage
29. Tour de France 2016, 6th stage
30. Tour de France 2016, 14th stage
31. Tour de France 2021, 4th stage
32. Tour de France 2021, 6th stage
33. Tour de France 2021, 10th stage
34. Tour de France 2021, 13th stage
35. Tour de France 2024, 5th stage