The 36-year-old fought back from depression and mental health problems to win his second Tour de France sprint green jersey. He also equalled Eddie Merckx’s record of 34 stage wins. He won stages four, six and ten to reach 33, then took the stage from Nîmes to Carcassonne to equal the record. He was called the ‘greatest sprinter in the history of the Tour and of cycling’ by Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France. Cavendish was diagnosed with clinical depression in August 2018 as he struggled to overcome the effects of Epstein-Barr virus, which he said left him in a ‘dark’ place. He said: “Before diagnosis, I thought that depression was an excuse and you can snap out of it.”