Van Aert in for a long reign

Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-Quick Step) couldn’t secure a fifth consecutive King of the Sprint title on the Champs Elysées. His comeback raid was impressive enough, though, but Belgians Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix) got the better him.

After he stayed King for a few months following his last stage win in Tirreno-Adriatico last spring, van Aert seems to be in for a long reign again, his next races being the Olympic (mountainous) road race and time trial, before he will take a break.

Record-breaking Cav

Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-Quick Step) added another win today in Carcassonne to his already impressive Tour de France run, thereby becoming the first rider ever to win four title races in a row – and the Tour possibly still has to sprint stages to go. He is also the most successful Sprint King of 2021 so far, and Deceuninck-Quick Step and Specialized are the best team and the best bike, respectively, of 2021 and all-time. Cav’s team-mate Michael Mørkøv got second today, by the way. Great stuff!

Riding like it’s 2011

It’s like travelling back in time. Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-Quick Step) made it three in a row today in the tenth stage of this year’s Tour de France into Valence, thereby equalling Caleb Ewan and Sam Bennett’s shared record of three consecutive King of the Sprint stages. We know, some big sprint names aren’t present or have already gone home, but still, who could have predicted this? And also, isn’t it just great?

Could Cav set a new record and win a fourth consecutive title race? We should find out quite soon.

The Manxman strikes again

He’s really back now! After winning the fourth stage of the 2021 Tour de France, Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-Quick Step) added the sixth stage into Châteauroux today, winning his thirty-second Tour stage ever (his third in the same town) and also his second title race in a row.

Can Cav win a third consecutive title race, thereby emulating Caleb Ewan and Dylan Groenewegen? We will find out in a few days’ time.

Cav, after all!

It had been 111 days since Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma) won the first stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. The fourth stage of the 2021 Tour de France into Fougères was the first race the Belgian had started since that day that ended in a mass sprint – the champion’s appendicitis in May partly to blame for that. (One could argue that the previous stage, which was won by Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix) had also ended in a bunch sprint, but the King of the Sprint jury ruled that the crashes that decimated the peloton at the end of stage 3 didn’t have enough to do with the (run-up to the) sprint.)

On to the main story of this title race. Namely, that it was won by the arguably GOAT as far as sprint finishes are concerned: Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-Quick Step). Cavendish had racked up only one podium placing since we started this competition, and we always feared that we were too late to crown the real “King of the Sprint” as, well, the official King of the Sprint. Until today, that is. After wins in the Tours of Turkey and Belgium, and thanks to a last-minute entry because of teammate Sam Bennett’s knee injury, the Manxman finally shone on the biggest stage (again).

King Wout!

That Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma) could sprint, we already knew. After all, he won a title race at the Tour de France back in September. But that he would be the one to finally end the reign of “golden pair” Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) and Sam Bennet (Deceuninck-Quick Step) might have come as a bigger surprise. Ewan probably was the fastest sprinter at the first stage of Tirreno-Adriatico into Lido di Camaiore, but van Aert had timed his sprint perfectly and won the race – and the King of the Sprint title.

It’s not at all certain we will see another bunch sprint in this year’s Tirreno, and if that’s the case, van Aert might stay King for quite a long time, since he will only ride Classics in the next few weeks. We’ll keep you posted.

Back to Ewan

The final stage of this year’s UAE Tour was the fiftieth King of the Sprint title race. Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick Step) went in as the reigning King, but was unable to retain his title. It was his King of the Sprint nemesis, Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal), who beat him to the line, and won his first title of 2021, his eleventh in total. Not since the fifth stage of the 2020 Tour de France has anyone but Ewan or Bennett held the title, by the way.

Where next? Ewan is set to ride Tirreno-Adriatico. He won’t meet Bennett there, but we might see some duels with the likes of Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix).

Two in a row

It was February 2020 when a rider – Fabio Jakobsen – could last retain his King of the Sprint title. After going back and forth a few times between Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick Step) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal), it finally stayed with the same rider for more than one race: Bennett won stage 4 of the UAE Tour, and after that also stage 6, beating Elia Viviani (Cofidis) and Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hangrohe).

The seventh and final stage of this year’s UAE Tour, tomorrow, could also well end in a bunch sprint.

Back and forth

Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) and Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick Step) are the kings of the sprint, although it’s the Irishman who is currently King of the Sprint, with capital “K”. Together, Ewan and Bennett have won all five title races since stage 10 of the Tour de France. The former spent the winter months as King after he had taken a record tenth title at the Scheldeprijs in October, but it is the latter who is the first to win in the new season.

At the UAE Tour, the first stage didn’t end in a sprint because of the wind, but in the fourth stage all the main sprinters got a new chance. Bennett beat promising newcomer David Dekker (Team Jumbo-Visma) and … Ewan. On Friday, we might already see the next title race.

A new Paris King

Probably the most prestigious title race of the season – if it’s a title race at all, that is, if the current titleholder takes part – is the final stage of the Tour de France, finishing on the Champs Elysées in Paris. Today, Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal), the titleholder and last year’s winner in Paris, was present, so we could expect a glorious sprint.

Ewan couldn’t defend his title successfully, however. He only got seventh, and it was his main rival in France, green jersey winner and actually also the previous King, Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick Step), who inherited his title.