An historic 35th Tour de France stage win for Sir Mark Cavendish is "earth shattering for the Isle of Man", according to the woman who first introduced him to the sport.
Yesterday the Manx Missile became the all-time greatest stage winner at the event.
It surpasses the previous record he'd jointly held with cycling legend Eddie Merckx.
Dot Tilbury says it's an incredible achievement:
Oh, you know, it was a bit of numbness, really. You just sort of think, you know, he's had so much bad luck along the way. And, you know, once he started on that sprint, oh my heavens, I just, it's unbelievable, but not unbelievable because he's just a maestro in the sprint. And it's just a shattering for the Isle of Man. Well, you talk about some of that bad luck there, we know there've been injuries, the illness as well. Did you ever have any doubt that he'd get that record? I sort of thought, oh, it's Mark, you'll do it. But, you know, with all the bad luck that's gone with it as well, you know, you never know. But yesterday, when you just saw the aerial shot of weaving in and out, and remember there, Golden, you know, I don't know how many miles an hour, it seemed like 100 miles an hour. But, and he's just weaving in and out, and it's like, he's got wings, it's just amazing. And, of course, every time we see Mark at a race, you see the Manx flags lining the course, he's called the Manx missile, he really does put the Isle of Man on the map. Just how much does this mean for Manx cycling? Oh, it's, it's just, what you can imagine if it was Britain or France or anywhere, he's put on a pedestal. And he just, you know, sometimes he comes down to the NSC on a Tuesday night if he's over with his family. And the kids just love him, you know, even the little ones that weren't even born when he started. And it's just great to see. And he, if there's one thing Mark's good with, and it's, it's kids on bikes. And he just loves it. And just how much of an impact does that have, then, on the next generation of Manx cyclists? Well, terrific impact, I would hope. You know, he inspires sort of anyone from an island to think, well, you know, you don't have to come from a big city or a big country to be a world champion and an Olympic champion. And it's just, it's just amazing that he's set, set the Isle of Man on the world stage. And Dot said, just be interested to know whether a moment, when you sort of go back all those years, can you pinpoint a moment when you saw Mark coming through the ranks and you thought, hmm, hang on a second. This lad's got something special. I can actually, and the first thing I go back to is the Manchester Youth Tour. We used to have a youth tour right in the centre of Manchester. And we raced in the town and I remember taking Mark to the line. I can't remember how old he was, would he be back to the team maybe? And I just sort of stood there and I said to him, what are you going to do today? And he said, I'm going to win. And he did. And it just was that certainty and confidence and just, you know, sheer determination. And the good thing about Mark was that he actually loved riding his bike. It wasn't just a means to an end. He just loved riding his bike and racing his bike and everything had to be right. So that was the first time I thought, oh, I think this kid made something. And you say there, he loves riding his bike. You know, it's been well documented, hasn't it? Just the hours and hours and hours of hard work and training he put in to get to the level he's now at? Well, don't really, you couldn't comprehend what effort he's put in to the average person. You know, it's, he wasn't the best climber, but he had to learn to climb to get over, you know, in the Tour de France. So he's put a lot of hard grafting to make it to where he is today. And to get the record is just the, just the icing on the cake and so deserved because, you know, when you're at the top of your game, everybody wants a slice of you. The pressure, you know, he's got a family. And I think that's his, his, you know, cling to family that sort of brings him back down to earth. But when he's on a mission to do what he's done, he'll have been absolutely focused and the work is beyond anybody, what anybody can imagine. Thank you for making it to the end of the Manxeradian Newscast. You are obviously someone with exquisite taste. May I politely suggest you might want to subscribe to this and a wide range of Manx Radio podcasts at your favourite podcast provider, so our best bits will magically appear on your smartphone. Thank you. [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]
