Inside Mark Cavendish's BRUTAL training routine: How British cyclist endured grueling 'altitude practice' as he went on to break Tour de France record for 35 stage wins
- Mark Cavendish claimed a record 35th Tour de France stage win this week
- The British cyclist is riding in what is set to be his 15th and final Tour De France
- Here is a look inside of the tough training regime he followed ahead of the race
Mark Cavendish made history this week in the Tour de France, breaking the record for the number of stage wins won by a single athlete.
After a dramatic sprint finish, the British cyclist claimed his 35th stage victory in Saint Vulbas, fending off competition from both Fabio Jakobsen and Jasper Philipsen to become the most prolific stage winner in the history of the race.
Cavendish's stage victory this week, took him past the legendary Eddy Merckx, after the pair shared the title for most stage wins after the Brit became level with him back in 2021.
The 39-year-old didn't win the race by sheer luck however instead he has been on a rigorous training routine implemented by Astana's head coach Vasilis Anastopoulos.
The training plan started all the way back in December and consisted of intesne altitude practice in the Andes and short high intensity sprints in Greece.
Mark Cavendish claimed a record 35th stage victory at Tour de France this week
The 39-year-old fought off stiff competition from Fabio Jakobsen and Jasper Philipsen to become the most prolific stage winner in the history of the race
The plan to get Cavendish his record 35th stage win at the Tour de France and hopefully his first overall race win was hatched all the way back in December.
Being labelled as 'Project 35' within the four walls of Astana-Qazaqstan.
As part of aiming to deliver one of the sport's crowning moments, a tough training regime was implemented by Anastopoulos for Cavendish.
The Greek trainer revealing that 'We started with our training camps already from December, I think in December, generally, he spent only four days at home.'
Cavendish's strict training plan to get him in the form of his life heading into this year's race even included spending a fortnight in the Andes mountains alongside two of his key leadout men, Cees Bol and Michael Morkov in January.
Preparation for the Brit cyclist began all the way back in December Astana's coach revealed
Cavendish spent two weeks in the Andes with the Astana team for Altitude training
The Astana team spent two weeks in the city of Riongero, located 2,150 metres above sea level, where they focused on altitude acclimatisation.
Speaking of Cavendish's altitude training Anastopoulos said, 'there are lots of different ways to tackle altitude training, but you have to be careful about what you do. Cavendish is currently doing lots of hours in the saddle and only short sessions of more intensive work.'
The reason for Colombia being chosen as the location for his training camp was because Mark wanted to 'improve his aerobic capacity' Anastopoulos explained.
Telling BiciPro 'in my opinion even a Classics specialist should do at least one altitude training camp. And if that is not possible, then one at sea level, but I believe that the benefits of altitude training are greater'.
The 'Manxman' then went onto to participate in the Tour Colombia before returning to Europe to focus on the Tour de France.
Anastopoulos revealed to the press after Cavendish claimed his record 35th stage win that 'at the beginning of April, [Cavendish] came to Greece with me. We spent three months in Greece in between [the Tour of] Turkey, [Tour de] Hungary and Tour de Suisse.
'We trained every day together, believed in the process – I can tell you that it was not an easy one. But we never stopped believing that this would come true.'
After spending the majority of his time in Greece over the past few months, spending a 'maximum 15 days' at home according to the Greek coach, the Brit travelled to Switzerland, to take part in the Tour de Suisse, where he kept a relatively low profile.
Cavendish took part in the Tour de Suisse as final preparation for the Tour de France
His coach revealing they used the race as an opportunity to build his climbing legs through the Alps
Instead of being focused on winning the race he used it as an opportunity to build his climbing legs through the Alps, before returning to Greece to complete his final preparations for the prolific race.
'We spent the whole week doing sprint work, because of all the climbs we did before,' the coach said. 'The data I had told me that he was capable of doing it.
'You saw today why he's such a big champion. He's 39 years old. Most of the guys said he's not going to make it. He proved them wrong in 2021, and then he proved everyone wrong again in 2024. He's just phenomenal.' he said to the press after Cavendish's win.
