Mark Cavendish struggling with stomach issues and heat during the opening stage of the Tour de France

Mark Cavendish appeared to be struggling with stomach problems and heat during the opening stage of the Tour de France, putting his quest to break the tie with Eddy Merckx for the most career stage wins in cycling’s biggest race in jeopardy.

RIMINI, Italy RIMINI, Italy (AP) — Marcos Cavendish appeared to be struggling with stomach issues and heat during the opening stage of the Tour de France on Saturday, putting his quest to break a tie with Eddy Merckx for the most career stage wins in cycling’s biggest race.

Vomiting while on his bike, Cavendish fell behind the pack on the first climb, second-category Col de Valico Tre Faggi and four Astana teammates dropped back to help the British rider.

Cavendish equaled Merckx’s mark of 34 stage wins during the 2021 Tour and came close to winning his 35th on the seventh stage in 2023. He crashed during the eighth stage last year, breaking his right collarbone. Cavendish, 39, postponed his retirement for a year to return to the Tour and try again to break his relationship with Merckx.

The 206-kilometer (128-mile) route from Florence to the Adriatic coastal resort of Rimini marked one of the toughest starts to the Tour in recent memory, with seven categorized climbs and more than 3,600 meters (11,800 feet) of ascent.

Heat was also a major factor on opening day, with the temperature rising to 36 degrees Celsius (97 Fahrenheit). The teammates threw water on Cavendish’s head to try to cool him down. Then Cavendish vomited twice, once near the top of the initial climb and again on the descent.

Cavendish was almost 10 minutes behind the leaders after the first two climbs and will likely need to finish within an hour of the winner to avoid a cut that would end his Tour.

Cavendish, who won his first Tour stage in 2008, had hoped to just survive the first two stages before going for the record in Monday’s third stage, the first flat stage which is good for sprinters. There are another handful of flat stages later in the race.

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