Tour de France sprints aren't won in the last kilometres
In the summer of 2024, Mark Cavendish rode into Saint-Vulbas and claimed a number that had belonged to two men — and now belongs to one. His 35th Tour de France stage victory, achieved in the twilight of a career nearly ended by injury, stands as a testament to what becomes possible when a team chooses belief over probability. Astana Qazaqstan's documentary 'Project 35' offers the world a rare look behind the spectacle of sport: the invisible labor, the collective sacrifice, and the quiet architecture of a historic moment.
- A broken collarbone at the 2023 Tour had cast serious doubt over whether Cavendish would ever return to cycling's greatest stage — the record seemed permanently out of reach.
- Astana Qazaqstan built an entire team structure around a single mission, assembling a lead-out train of Bol, Ballerini, and Mørkøv to deliver Cavendish to the line at precisely the right moment.
- The tension didn't end with stage 5 — the Alps threatened to eliminate Cavendish from the race entirely, and Mørkøv eventually abandoned, forcing the team to shift its goal from record-chasing to simple survival.
- Cavendish crested the final mountain stage in tears, with team boss Alexander Vinokourov following in the team car, and the crowds of Nice waiting to receive him one last time after 20 Tours.
- The record is now his alone, his career closes at season's end, and a nearly 40-minute film stands as the team's collective testimony to what it truly took.
When Mark Cavendish crossed the finish line at Saint-Vulbas on stage 5 of the 2024 Tour de France, he became the sole owner of a record he had previously shared with Eddy Merckx — 35 Tour de France stage victories. Astana Qazaqstan, the team that had wagered on bringing him back for one final season, captured the entire journey in a documentary they called 'Project 35.'
The film begins not with glory but with its opposite: Cavendish's crash at the 2023 Tour, the broken collarbone, the long road back. It shows the physical toll of the opening stages, the doubt that shadowed the team, and the meticulous work required to engineer a moment that felt almost improbable. The lead-out train — Cees Bol, Davide Ballerini, and Michael Mørkøv — was assembled with precision, and directeur sportif Mark Renshaw, a former lead-out rider himself, orchestrated the strategy from the team bus to the road. 'Tour de France sprints aren't won in the last kilometres,' Cavendish says in the film. 'They are won when you can have an easier day in the peloton.' It is a window into the invisible labor that makes the visible moment possible.
But the story didn't end with stage 5. The documentary follows the team through the Alps, where time cuts were fought closely and Mørkøv eventually abandoned the race. The mission quietly changed — from chasing history to simply bringing Cavendish to Nice, to the finish line of his 20th and final Tour. When he crested the Col de la Couillole on the last mountain stage, tears came. Vinokourov followed in the team car. The crowds in Nice were waiting.
Cavendish will retire at season's end, with one final criterium appearance in Singapore before closing the chapter. He intends to remain in cycling in a management role. The record is his. The film is the team's answer to the question the world will always ask: how did it happen, and what did it cost.
Mark Cavendish crossed a finish line on stage 5 of the 2024 Tour de France into Saint-Vulbas and became the winningest stage racer in the race's history. The number 35 had been waiting for him—it was the record he shared with Eddy Merckx, the Belgian cycling legend, and now it belonged to him alone. Astana Qazaqstan, the team that made the bet on bringing him back for one final season, documented the entire arc of that pursuit in a nearly 40-minute film they released on YouTube, calling it 'Project 35.'
The video opens not with triumph but with the wreckage that preceded it. There is footage of Cavendish's crash at the 2023 Tour, the broken collarbone that seemed to close a chapter on his career. There is the heat of the opening stage of this year's race, the physical toll of a body that had been away from the sport's highest stage. The film shows the struggle, the doubt, the machinery of a team trying to engineer a moment that felt almost impossible.
What made the moment possible was not Cavendish alone. Astana Qazaqstan had assembled a lead-out train with surgical precision: Cees Bol, Davide Ballerini, and Michael Mørkøv, the last of whom had spent years as Cavendish's final man before the finish line. The directeur sportif Mark Renshaw, himself a former lead-out rider who understood the craft intimately, orchestrated the entire operation. The video cuts between the team bus, where tactics were debated and refined, and the road itself, where those plans either held or fell apart. Mørkøv and Renshaw coordinated not just the sprint stages but the entire Tour—managing the peloton, protecting Cavendish on days when he could rest, positioning him for the days when he could strike.
In the film, Cavendish sits with his lead-out train and speaks about what their work meant. He talks about the bond that forms when riders shepherd you through the chaos of a peloton, when they sacrifice their own race so you can have an easier day, when they wait for you and trust that you will deliver. 'Tour de France sprints aren't won in the last kilometres,' he says. 'They are won when you can have an easier day in the peloton.' It is a statement about cycling that most fans never see—the invisible labor that precedes the visible moment.
The video does not end with stage 5. It follows Astana Qazaqstan through the rest of the race, through the Alps where time cuts were fought closely and Mørkøv eventually abandoned the race. The team's mission shifted from chasing records to simply bringing Cavendish to Nice, to the finish line of his final Tour. This was his 20th appearance at the race, and the team had committed to seeing him through. When he crested the Col de la Couillole on the final mountain stage, tears came. The crowds in Nice were waiting for him one last time, and Alexander Vinokourov, the team boss who had taken the risk of signing him, drove the team car behind him.
Cavendish will retire from racing at the end of the season, though he will make one more appearance at a criterium in Singapore in November. He has already signaled that he intends to remain in cycling in a management capacity. But the Tour de France, the race he cherished and championed most, is finished for him. The record is his. The film is the team's way of saying: this is how we did it, this is what it took, and this is what it meant.
Citações Notáveis
I couldn't have hoped for, wished for, spending my time with better people than I have here. Thank you all for the belief, for every single minute you've all put into this.— Mark Cavendish, celebrating on the team bus
Tour de France sprints aren't won in the last kilometres, they are won when you can have an easier day in the peloton and you've waited for me and just shepherded me. The thanks I owe you for that, more than any lead-out, it's that shit goes above and beyond.— Mark Cavendish, speaking to his lead-out train
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why did Astana Qazaqstan make this film? It seems like more than just a victory lap.
Because the victory wasn't just Cavendish's. The team invested heavily in bringing him back, in building a lead-out train, in coaching him through a season that could have gone sideways. The film is their way of documenting what that investment looked like from the inside.
What's the difference between a lead-out train and just having fast teammates?
A lead-out train is choreography. It's not about speed alone—it's about positioning, timing, sacrifice. Mørkøv and the others had to know exactly when to accelerate, when to shield Cavendish from wind, when to pull him out of the chaos. That's a skill that takes years to develop.
The video shows his crash from 2023. Why include that?
Because without that crash, without the doubt that followed, the record doesn't have the same weight. The film is saying: this wasn't inevitable. It was fragile. It could have ended differently.
He's retiring after this. Does that change what the record means?
It makes it final. There's no next year, no chance to add to 35. It's a full stop. That's why the emotion at the finish in Nice matters—it's not just a victory, it's a goodbye.
What did Cavendish say about his teammates that stood out?
He talked about the bond that forms when riders sacrifice for you, when they give you an easier day in the peloton. He said you can't understand that in real life, that it creates something unique. That's the real story the film is telling.