Mark Cavendish fighting to stay in Tour de France already after brutal first stage

Mark Cavendish is struggling to stay in the Tour de France after experiencing what seems to be heat exhaustion and throwing up during the challenging first stage of the race, from Florence to Rimini. The British cyclist, in his final Tour, managed to complete the stage with the help of four of his teammates, but ended up finishing almost 40 minutes behind the stage winner, Romain Bardet from France.

The well-respected Bardet won the stage and the leader's yellow jersey after making a move with his dsm-firmenich PostNL team mate, Frank van den Broek, 40 kilometers away from Rimini, on the climb up the Cote de Montemaggio. They had a lead of 1 minute and 30 seconds over the chasing group as they entered the last 20 kilometers of the race, but their advantage shrunk to just a few seconds as they approached the final 1,000 meters.

However, the duo clung to the lead, with Bardet claiming a heartfelt victory and securing the top spot in the race overall. This marked the end of Bardet's lengthy career at the Tour.

Cavendish was not alone in facing difficulty during the stage, as many other top riders also struggled. French rider David Gaudu, who leads the Groupama FDJ team, Tadej Pogacar's teammate Juan Ayuso, and Irish cyclist Sam Bennett from Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale were all left behind by the main group of riders.

On a challenging course with many difficult hills, under extreme heat, and not ideal for his fast cycling abilities, the 39-year-old Cavendish struggled from the bottom of the first hill all the way to the finish line in Rimini. This marked a disastrous beginning to his quest for a record-breaking 35th Tour stage win.

Cavendish is faced with the task of rebuilding after facing setbacks. He not only had to say goodbye to his Italian teammate, Michele Gazzoli, who left the race after just 120km of the Tour, but the team’s Colombian climber, Harold Tejada, was also left behind by the top contenders in the last hour of the race.

On Sunday, the second part of the race from Cesenatico to Bologna includes more quick and steep hills. Cavendish is focused on the upcoming sprint finish in Turin on Monday, and he hopes he can bounce back in time.