1 year ago
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MARK CAVENDISH was so mentally broken by the thought of never racing a bike again that doctors feared he would harm himself.
Four years ago they considered placing the Tour de France legend in a hospital for his own safety.
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AFPBut today, for the Manx Missile, winning is no longer everything.
Instead, it’s his model wife Peta Todd and their children who are the centre of his world.
That perspective helped the winner of 34 Tour de France stages to cope with what could have been a devastating blow to his career earlier this month.
Having announced his forthcoming retirement, Mark, 38, needed just one more stage win to break the all-time record held by Belgian legend Eddy Merckx.
Yet with glory in his sights, the British racer suffered a competition-ending break to his collarbone.
Looking remarkably upbeat, Mark simply shrugs and tells The Sun: “It is what it is.”
That, he admits, is not how he would have seen such a terrible setback prior to overcoming depression.
He says: “You learn what is important, one hundred per cent. My purpose is to be a husband and father more than anything.
“I look at a lot more positives now. I understand what’s really important. It’s actually a nice head space to be in.”
Such a positive outlook is impressive, considering the amount of blows Mark has endured over the past five years.
Knifepoint robbery
In 2018 he was diagnosed with Epstein-Barr virus, which causes chronic fatigue and left him struggling even to walk up the stairs.
The same year a collision with a bollard during a race sent him flying into the air and left him unable to feel his legs.
Having recovered from that crash, the three-times track world champion stopped eating to try to lose weight in the hope that his speed would improve.
It didn’t help, and in one gruelling mountain stage of the 2018 Tour de France he was so far behind the pack that he had to leave the competition.
The inability to compete left him in the pits of despair and Mark was diagnosed with clinical depression.
On top of that, in November 2021 the couple were robbed at their home in Essex, and one of the raiders punched Mark and held a knife to his throat.
Earlier that year he had made one of the greatest comebacks in the history of sport.
Having been written off by the racing community and only securing a place in the Tour de France starting line-up because a team-mate was injured, Mark won four stages of the race.
It was enough for him to draw level with Merckx for stage victories.
That remarkable return to the top is the subject of a Netflix documentary, Mark Cavendish: Never Enough, which starts streaming on Wednesday.
Mark agreed to appear in the film so that others can learn from his experience.
He says: “The point of the film is to show depression can affect anyone in the world, no matter whether you are a cyclist or work in an office. I am happy we live in a world where we can understand.
“Although I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, I am happy personally that I can now understand it.”
In the very candid film we hear about the terrible strain that a mental breakdown can have on a family. Mark admits: “I was a nightmare to live with.”
Peta, 36, who has four children with Mark and a son from a previous relationship, says: “It was irrational how angry he was. We argued about nothing.”
Their third child, Casper, was born in May 2018 — around the time the cycling legend’s problems began to surface.
He says: “You are not really aware of what’s going on, or the people around you, when you are suffering from depression or mental health issues. You are empty, you are not aware of how it is affecting you.
“More so, you are not aware of any impact it has on people around you.”
Mark didn’t even realise that Peta and his friends were worried about him.
Emotional turmoil
Dr Helge Riepenhof considered him to be a “risk of suicide” in 2019, and cognitive neuroscientist David Spindler was worried his patient would harm himself.
The cause of the breakdown, David believes, was the loss of a “sense of freedom” that riding gave to Mark.
In the film we learn that the sprint star took up competitive cycling at the age of ten, around the time his parents got divorced.
It seems the open road was the escape that he had needed from the emotional turmoil at home.
A year after Mark’s loss of form led to his failure to make the time cut on the 2018 Tour de France mountain stage — and his resulting exit from the competition — his cycling team, Dimension Data, said he was no longer good enough to be part of its squad in France.
But Peta did not give up on him.
Mark says: “She’s been brilliant. The family is first and foremost the reason any of us live.”
Watching the Netflix film showed him what an impact those tough years had on his family.
He says that what he really learned from the film was “most of Peta’s perspective on stuff . . . the stuff that hurt, that hit home the most”.
Natural-born competitor Mark had a reputation in the past for telling his fellow riders and team bosses exactly what he thought about them.
In the documentary, former coach Vasilis Anastopoulos jokes that Mark could be an “a**hole”.
Even so, Vasilis was one of the friends who helped to make the British star competitive again.
In 2021 he was hired by Patrick Lefevere, boss of Mark’s then team Deceuninck-Quick-Step, to see if he could bring back the old racer.
Mark says: “It is about keeping that hope, and good people around you. The film also shows there are good people and people have an interest in human beings.
“That’s massively warming.”
Despite his four breathtaking Tour de France stage wins in 2021, the star was unable to secure a spot in the energy-sapping race the following summer.
Thankfully, his latest team, Astana Qazaqstan, gave him the opportunity to try to beat Merckx’s record this month.
Having finished second in the seventh stage, he appeared to be in great form.
Broken shoulder
But in the next race, a crash left him on the pavement with a bloody and broken shoulder.
It is a mark of the respect felt for him in the racing community that Tour director Christian Prudhomme responded to the news by saying: “He’s the best sprinter in the history of the Tour de France. We are sad, the Tour de France is sad.”
Yesterday, sitting in a hotel in London, Mark was sanguine about the brutal injury, which had loosened a screw that was used to fix a previous injury.
Glancing at his shoulder he said: “I am all right. I have been on the indoor trainer.”
But the fearless rider is unable to say whether his retirement plans are being put on hold before one more sprint at that record.
Mark continued: “No idea about the schedule. I am going to see the surgeon next week.”
His team is willing to offer him that chance if he is fit.
Throughout the interview Mark was reluctant to complain about his lot — whether it is the accident or his struggle with depression.
He said: “I am conscious there are people in a lot worse situations than me.
“I don’t want to sit here today sounding like I am feeling sorry for myself. I don’t feel sorry for myself.
“I am very fortunate to be in the situation I am in. I am privileged to have had the life I have had.”
Win or lose, he knows he has his children to bring him joy.
Beaming, he added: “The point is, no matter what I do I am just Dad. I think any father can relate to that. You strive to do what you can do.
“There is nothing that can make me prouder or mean more than being a dad.”
- Mark Cavendish: Never Enough is on Netflix from August 2.
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