It is 17 years since a rosy-cheeked 22-year-old Mark Cavendish was first seen at the Tour de France, barrelling around London in the opening-day prologue. On that occasion Cavendish was a T-Mobile team-mate of Axel Merckx; on Wednesday he pulled one stage win clear of another Merckx – Axel’s father Eddy – to become the Tour’s... read full story