How the Manx Missile optimised his way to an historic 35th stage win

By Simon von Bromley

Published: Thursday, 04 July 2024 at 15:20 PM


This is the custom-painted Wilier Filante SLR that Mark Cavendish rode to a historic 35th stage win at the 2024 Tour de France.

With a special-edition paint job celebrating some of the Manx Missile’s many career highlights, the bike features an updated, speed-focussed build compared to his 2023 bike.

Having crashed out of last year’s Tour, Cavendish is back with a vengeance at this year’s race and seems to have made every effort to optimise his bike and equipment setup.

Ahead of the race start in Florence, Italy, we got our hands on Cavendish’s bike – weighing his machine and recording the key measurements – so let’s take a deep dive into the tech that helped Cavendish cement his place as the Tour’s greatest-ever stage hunter.