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24 July 2009. Stage Nineteen: Bourgoin-Jallieu to Aubenas

178km. Undulating

On 20 July, at his hotel in the Swiss Alps, on the second rest day of the 2009 Tour, Mark Cavendish was approached by a rival team manager, Bjarne Riis.

A controversial figure who had admitted to doping when he won the Tour in 1996, Riis was now running the Saxo Bank squad, and one of his riders, Andy Schleck, was still in contention to win the 2009 Tour. As a manager, Riis had earned a reputation as one of the sport’s thinkers and innovators, whose teams were tactically astute and exceptionally well organised. Partly this reputation might have been due to his demeanour: Riis, a Dane, was cold and inscrutable, his aloof manner suggesting he was in possession of a secret code.

But today, Riis had something else on his mind when he walked over to Cavendish’s table as he ate dinner.

‘Have you looked at the profile for stage nineteen, the finish in Aubenas?’ Riis asked.

‘Yeah,’ said Cavendish. ‘Kind of. Looks like a massive climb at the end.’