Tour de France Stage Record Attempt for Mark Cavendish in Jeopardy

Rumors swirl that French cycling team B&B Hotels will sign the legendary sprinter ahead of the 2023 Tour. But team general manager Jérôme Pineau is scrambling for critical funding as deadlines loom.

If Manx cycling sprinter Mark Cavendish rides in the 2023 Tour de France next July, he could break one of the sport’s seminal records. And in the next two weeks, we’ll learn whether the team most strongly linked to him will exist long enough for him to do it.

Cavendish remains without a team for the 2023 Tour as of this writing. But industry buzz holds that French ProTeam (second-division) B&B Hotels wants to sign him. If Cavendish earns a spot in the peloton, he can break the Tour’s all-time stage wins record: 34, which he currently shares with Eddy Merckx.

To help him do it, though, and field a Tour de France-eligible team, B&B Hotels general manager Jérôme Pineau will need to act…