2 days Ago By [email protected]
"Project 35 is still alive!" That was the phrase shouted in the direction of Mark Cavendish at the end of stage 1 of this year's Tour de France . The British sprinting superstar had suffered a torturous day in the heat, vomiting as a result of the effort combined with the need to consume so much water to remain hydrated. He ultimately finished the day comfortably inside the time cut , and so his hopes to win a record-breaking 35th stage of the Tour de France are still alive, but it didn't look so clear cut earlier in the day.
Despite the French fairytale unfolding at the front of the race, in which Romain Bardet stormed into the yellow jersey in his farewell Tour alongside DSM teammate Frank van den Broek, for every eye watching the front of the race was another on Cavendish's fight at the back. Up until this point, I'd not heard the term 'Project 35' but true to Baader-Meinhof phenomenon form, I've seen and heard it everywhere since. Whether or not Cavendish himself uses the term himself is unknown, but as he rocked up to the start on stage three – the first real opportunity for the sprinters – it was clear he'd left no stone unturned in the pursuit of the next win.
His bike, the Wilier Filante SLR aero bike resplendent in custom colours , was donning aerodynamic bottles from a time trial bike and his Nike shoes were enshrouded in a fabric sleeve to smooth out the airflow over the Boa dials, but that was just the beginning. The Manxman is no stranger to tech hacks in the.
