Mark Cavendish's Tour de France Record Under Threat from Tadej Pogacar

Mark Cavendish's record-breaking 35 stage wins in the Tour de France are under threat from Tadej Pogacar, who has been dominating the 2024 Tour de France with his impressive climbing power. Moments after winning his record-breaking 35th stage in the first week of the 2024 Tour de France, Mark Cavendish was congratulated by Tadej Pogacar.

What happened?

Pogacar has been on a roll, claiming two more Tour titles and 14 stage wins over the past two years and two weeks. His latest win was taken with another display of peerless climbing power in the high mountains. He attacked two kilometres from the top of the final climb of the Col du Haag, before increasing his advantage across the 6km plateau into the finish at the Nordic ski station of Le Markstein Fellering, where he also won back in 2023.

Why it matters for Mark Cavendish

Cavendish's record of 35 stage wins in the Tour de France is under threat from Pogacar's impressive performance. Pogacar has been closing the gap between himself and Cavendish's record, and it's only a matter of time before he breaks it. Cavendish's record has stood for a long time, and it will be interesting to see if Pogacar can break it.

What comes next?

The 2024 Tour de France is still ongoing, and Pogacar is expected to continue his dominance. Cavendish's record is under threat, and it will be interesting to see if he can hold on to it. Pogacar's impressive performance has sent shockwaves through the cycling world, and it will be exciting to see what happens next.

Pogacar's latest win was a testament to his climbing power, and he showed no signs of slowing down. He finished 38 seconds clear of his team-mate Isaac Del Toro and France's Paul Seixas to boost his overall lead to 4½ minutes on Vingegaard. His fifth win of his race moved him another big step towards a record-equalling fifth Tour victory.

Thanks to all of the fans who came out to the Tour today, said Pogacar, who was booed by some when he took victory at Le Lioran last Tuesday. Seeing all the cars on the hills was incredible. I've never seen anything like it before... I knew the last kilometres of the climb really well and seeing all the crowds gives you an additional boost. I had good feelings today and I grabbed the opportunity.

Thrilled by Pogacar, most of the fans went berserk when Seixas joined Vingegaard in the pursuit behind the yellow jersey. While Del Toro outsprinted the pair for second place at the line, Seixas gained enough time in finishing third to take fourth place overall and the white jersey of best young rider from Juan Ayuso. His deficit to Remco Evenepoel in third place has been reduced to just 15 seconds.

The wholly enthralling stage began in Mulhouse, where the riders were assailed by large hailstones and drenched by teeming rain in the first of a series of thunderstorms that swept across the Vosges mountains. As the deluge passed and the road ramped up on the first of four categorised climbs, the Grand Ballon, more than 30 riders went clear, with Britain's Tom Pidcock among the pace-setters as he was the previous day.

Cresting that climb, five riders went clear after battling for points in the mountains competition. Twins Tobias and Anders Johannessen, EF Education team-mates Ben Healy and Richard Carapaz, and Valentin Paret-Peintre were joined by Einer Rubio on the second of the day's four climbs, the Col du Page, while the bigger part of the breakaway group featuring Pidcock was 90 seconds back.

Vingegaard's Visma-Lease a Bike team had three riders in that group with the Briton. The trio kept the pace high, hoping to be in contention for the stage win. However, Pogacar's impressive performance saw him take the stage win, and he moved closer to breaking Cavendish's record.

The 2024 Tour de France is still ongoing, and Pogacar's impressive performance has sent shockwaves through the cycling world. It will be exciting to see what happens next, and whether Pogacar can break Cavendish's record.