Eyes on Cav as Tour de France due to get underway

Opportunity for history to be made

Eyes are on Mark Cavendish as the Tour de France sets off this weekend, in Northern Spain.

The first three stages will take place in Basque before the peloton moves to France.

It's not often a Manx man or woman stands on the edge of history, on the cusp of doing something no-one has ever done before.

However, Cavendish - from Laxey - has that opportunity.

The Tour de France gets underway tomorrow (1 July), and it's generally agreed this year has seven sprint stages.

In many eyes, the Manx Missile is the best there's ever been.

He has 34 stage wins, and thanks to his annus mirabilis in 2021 and those four stage wins, and latterly the support of the Astana Qazaqstan team, he has the chance to take his score on to 35.

Mark Cavendish is 38 - which is mature for a sprinter, but his performance in the final stage of the Giro d'Italia made even the doubters question if it could still happen.