RIMINI, Italy (AP) — Mark Cavendish appeared to be struggling with stomach and heat issues during the opening stage of the Tour de France on Saturday, putting at risk his pursuit of breaking a tie with Eddy Merckx for the most career stage wins in cycling’s biggest race.
Vomiting while on his bike, Cavendish dropped behind the pack on the very first climb, the second-category Col de Valico Tre Faggi, and four Astana teammates dropped back to help the British rider.
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RIMINI, Italy (AP) — Mark Cavendish appeared to be struggling with stomach and heat issues during the opening stage of the Tour de France on Saturday, putting at risk his pursuit of breaking a tie with Eddy Merckx for the most career stage wins in cycling’s biggest race.
FILE - Britain's Mark Cavendish celebrates as he wins the 21st and last stage of the Giro D'Italia, tour of Italy cycling race, in Rome, Sunday, May 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
Britain's Mark Cavendish greets spectators during the team presentation in Florence, Italy, Thursday, June 27, 2024, two days before the start of the Tour de France cycling race. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Britain's Mark Cavendish greets spectators during the team presentation in Florence, Italy, Thursday, June 27, 2024, two days before the start of the Tour de France cycling race. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Britain's Mark Cavendish greets spectators as he arrives for the team presentation in Florence, Italy, Thursday, June 27, 2024, two days before the start of the Tour de France cycling race. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
Four Astana Qazaqstan Team riders set the pace for Britain's Mark Cavendish, rear, who got distanced from the pack during the first stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 206 kilometers (128 miles) with start in Florence and finish in Rimini, Italy, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Cavendish equaled Merckx’s mark of 34 stage wins during the 2021 Tour and went close to winning a 35th in the seventh stage in 2023. He crashed during the eighth stage last year, breaking his right collarbone. The 39-year-old Cavendish then put off retirement by a year to come back to the Tour and try again at breaking his tie with Merckx.
The 206-kilometer (128-mile) route from Florence to the Adriatic coastal resort of Rimini marked one of the toughest Tour starts in recent memory, featuring seven categorized climbs and more than 3,600 meters (11,800 feet) of ascending.
Heat was also a factor on the opening day, with the temperature soaring to 36 degrees Celsius (97 Fahrenheit). Teammates dumped water over Cavendish’s head to try and cool him down. Then Cavendish vomited twice, once near the top of the opening climb and again on the descent.
Cavendish was nearly 10 minutes behind the leaders after the opening two climbs and will likely need to finish within an hour of the winner to avoid a cutoff that would end his Tour.
Cavendish, who won his first Tour stage way back in 2008, was just hoping to get by in the opening two stages before aiming for the record in Monday’s third leg, the first flat stage that sets up well for sprinters. There's another handful of flat stages later in the race.
AP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling
FILE - Britain's Mark Cavendish grimaces in pain as he receives medical assistance after crashing during the eighth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 201 kilometers (125 miles) with start in Libourne and finish in Limoges, France, Saturday, July 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)
FILE - Britain's Mark Cavendish celebrates as he wins the 21st and last stage of the Giro D'Italia, tour of Italy cycling race, in Rome, Sunday, May 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
Britain's Mark Cavendish greets spectators during the team presentation in Florence, Italy, Thursday, June 27, 2024, two days before the start of the Tour de France cycling race. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Britain's Mark Cavendish greets spectators during the team presentation in Florence, Italy, Thursday, June 27, 2024, two days before the start of the Tour de France cycling race. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Britain's Mark Cavendish greets spectators as he arrives for the team presentation in Florence, Italy, Thursday, June 27, 2024, two days before the start of the Tour de France cycling race. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
Four Astana Qazaqstan Team riders set the pace for Britain's Mark Cavendish, rear, who got distanced from the pack during the first stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 206 kilometers (128 miles) with start in Florence and finish in Rimini, Italy, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
PARIS (AP) — With the ultimate outcome still up in the air, France's fiercely anti-immigration National Rally and opponents of the long-taboo far-right party scrambled Monday to capitalize on an indecisive first round of voting in surprise legislative elections.
Round one on Sunday propelled the National Rally closer than ever to government but also left open the possibility that voters could yet block its path to power in the decisive round two. France now faces two likely scenarios in what promises to be a torrid last week of high-stakes campaigning.
Strengthened by a surge of support that made it the winner but not yet the overall victor, the National Rally and its allies could secure a working majority in parliament in the final round next Sunday. Or they could fall short, stymied at the last hurdle by opponents who still hope to prevent the formation of France's first far-right government since World War II.
Both scenarios are fraught with uncertainty for France and its influence in Europe and beyond.
Getting 289 or more lawmakers in the 577-seat National Assembly would give National Rally leader Marine Le Pen an absolute majority and the tools to force President Emmanuel Macron to accept her 28-year-old protege, Jordan Bardella, as France's new prime minister.
Such a power-sharing arrangement between Bardella and the centrist president would be awkward and invite conflict. Macron has said he will not step down before his second term expires in 2027.
Getting close to 289 seats might also work for Le Pen. By promising posts in the government, she may win over enough new lawmakers to her side.
A National Rally government in France would be an additional triumph for far-right and populist parties elsewhere in Europe that have steadily carved out places in the political mainstream and taken power in some countries, including populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Hungary. He will hold the European Union’s rotating presidency for the next six months.
But the first round of the French vote was also sufficiently undecided to offer up the alternative possibility that France's complex, two-round system could also leave no single bloc with a clear and workable majority.
That would plunge France into unknown territory.
However, Le Pen's opponents still view that scenario as more appealing than victory for her party, which has a history of racism, xenophobia, antisemitism and hostility toward France's Muslims — as well as historical ties to Russia and a more adversarial attitude toward the EU.
Candidates who qualified for round two have until 6 p.m. Tuesday to decide whether to stay in the race or withdraw. By pulling out, opponents of the National Rally might divert votes to other candidates better positioned to beat the far right next Sunday.
Some candidates announced of their own accord that they were stepping aside, making a defeat of the National Rally their top priority. In other cases, party leaders set the direction, saying they would withdraw candidates in some districts in hopes of blocking Le Pen's path to power. She inherited her party, then called the National Front, from her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who has multiple convictions for racist and antisemitic hate speech.
Overall, the National Rally and its allies won a third of the nationwide vote Sunday, official results showed. The New Popular Front, a new left-wing coalition of parties that joined together to beat the far right, got 28% and was followed in third place by Macron's centrist camp with 20%. But the 577 seats are elected by districts. So while nationwide results provide an overall picture of how each camp fared, they do not indicate exactly how many seats they will get in the end.
Support for the National Rally and the New Popular Front was so strong that they both won more than 30 seats outright on Sunday by taking more than 50% of the vote in some districts. That means there will be no second round in those districts.
Marine Le Pen said those National Rally lawmakers would meet Monday at the parliament and symbolically claim their seats.
When Macron dissolved the National Assembly and called the snap election on June 9, after a stinging defeat at the hands of the National Rally in French voting for the European Parliament, the deeply unpopular and weakened president gambled that the far right would not repeat that success when the country's own fate was in the balance.
But Macron's plan backfired. He is now accused, even by members of his own camp, of having opened a door for the National Rally by calling voters back to the ballot box, especially when so many are angry over inflation, the cost of living and at Macron himself.
If the National Rally can form a government, it has promised to dismantle many of Macron's key domestic and foreign policies. It says it would stop French deliveries of long-range missiles to Ukraine in the war against Russia.
At home, the party's plans include rolling back Macron's pension reform that raised the retirement age and promising to boost voters' spending power without clearly detailing how it would pay for the pledge, which could also spook European financial markets.
National Rally opponents fear for civil liberties if the party takes power. It plans to boost police powers, slash immigration and curtail the rights of French citizens with dual nationality to work in some defense, security and nuclear-industry jobs, alarming critics and minorities. Macron himself warned in the intense, three-week campaign that the far right could set France on a path to civil war.
Surk reported from Nice, France.
Follow AP's coverage of elections at https://apnews.com/hub/global-elections
Elected parliament member Clementine Autain, of the far-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party, arrives at the National Assembly, Monday, July 1, 2024 in Paris. France's National Rally surged into the lead in the first round of legislative elections, according to results released early Monday, bringing the far-right party to the brink of power and dealing a major blow to President Emmanuel Macron's centrists in an election that could set the country, and Europe, on a starkly different course. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Jordan Bardella, center left, president of the far-right National Rally party, arrives at the party headquarters, Monday, July 1, 2024 in Paris. France's National Rally surged into the lead in the first round of legislative elections, according to results released early Monday, bringing the far-right party to the brink of power and dealing a major blow to President Emmanuel Macron's centrists in an election that could set the country, and Europe, on a starkly different course. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Jordan Bardella, president of the far-right National Rally party, answers reporters as he arrives at the party headquarters, Monday, July 1, 2024 in Paris. France's National Rally surged into the lead in the first round of legislative elections, according to results released early Monday, bringing the far-right party to the brink of power and dealing a major blow to President Emmanuel Macron's centrists in an election that could set the country, and Europe, on a starkly different course. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Marine Le Pen, leader the French far-right, arrives at the National Rally party headquarters, Monday, July 1, 2024 in Paris. France's National Rally surged into the lead in the first round of legislative elections, according to results released early Monday, bringing the far-right party to the brink of power and dealing a major blow to President Emmanuel Macron's centrists in an election that could set the country, and Europe, on a starkly different course. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
Elected parliament member Sebastien Chenu, right, of the far-right National Rally party, arrives at the National Assembly, Monday, July 1, 2024 in Paris. France's National Rally surged into the lead in the first round of legislative elections, according to results released early Monday, bringing the far-right party to the brink of power and dealing a major blow to President Emmanuel Macron's centrists in an election that could set the country, and Europe, on a starkly different course. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
People climd on the statue at Republique plaza during a protest against the far-right National Rally party which came out strongly ahead in first-round legislative elections, Sunday, June 30, 2024 in Paris. France's high-stakes legislative elections propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong but not decisive lead in the first-round vote Sunday, polling agencies projected, dealing another slap to centrist President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal delivers a speech in the courtyard of the Prime Minister's residence, Sunday, June 30, 2024 in Paris. France's high-stakes legislative elections propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong but not decisive lead in the first-round vote Sunday, polling agencies projected, dealing another slap to centrist President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
Jordan Bardella, president of the French far-right National Rally party, answers reporters outside the party headquarters, Monday, July 1, 2024 in Paris. France's National Rally surged into the lead in the first round of legislative elections, according to results released early Monday, bringing the far-right party to the brink of power and dealing a major blow to President Emmanuel Macron's centrists in an election that could set the country, and Europe, on a starkly different course. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
Marine Le Pen, leader the French far-right, arrives at the National Rally party headquarters, Monday, July 1, 2024 in Paris. France's National Rally surged into the lead in the first round of legislative elections, according to results released early Monday, bringing the far-right party to the brink of power and dealing a major blow to President Emmanuel Macron's centrists in an election that could set the country, and Europe, on a starkly different course. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
Supporters of French far right leader Marine Le Pen react after the release of projections based on the actual vote count in select constituencies , Sunday, June 30, 2024 in Henin-Beaumont, northern France. French voters propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong lead in first-round legislative elections Sunday and plunged the country into political uncertainty, according to polling projections. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
People gather at Republique plaza to protest the far-right National Rally, which came out strongly ahead in first-round legislative elections, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Paris. France's high-stakes legislative elections propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong but not decisive lead in the first-round vote Sunday, polling agencies projected, dealing another slap to centrist President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
People gather at Republique Square to protest the far-right National Rally, which came out strongly ahead in first-round legislative elections, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Paris. France's high-stakes legislative elections propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong but not decisive lead in the first-round vote Sunday, polling agencies projected, dealing another slap to centrist President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
People gather at Republique plaza to protest the far-right National Rally, which came out strongly ahead in first-round legislative elections, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Paris. France's high-stakes legislative elections propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong but not decisive lead in the first-round vote Sunday, polling agencies projected, dealing another slap to centrist President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
Far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon speaks at Republique square during a protest against the far-right National Rally, which came out strongly ahead in first-round legislative elections, Sunday, June 30, 2024 in Paris. France's high-stakes legislative elections propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong but not decisive lead in the first-round vote Sunday, polling agencies projected, dealing another slap to centrist President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron leave the voting booth before voting in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, northern France, Sunday, June 30, 2024. France is holding the first round of an early parliamentary election that could bring the country's first far-right government since Nazi occupation during World War II. The second round is on July 7, and the outcome of the vote remains highly uncertain (Yara Nardi, Pool via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron takes a selfie with supporters after voting in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, northern France, Sunday, June 30, 2024. France is holding the first round of an early parliamentary election that could bring the country's first far-right government since Nazi occupation during World War II. The second round is on July 7, and the outcome of the vote remains highly uncertain (Yara Nardi, Pool via AP)
People gather at Republique plaza to protest the far-right National Rally, which came out strongly ahead in first-round legislative elections, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Paris. France's high-stakes legislative elections propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong but not decisive lead in the first-round vote Sunday, polling agencies projected, dealing another slap to centrist President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
French far right leader Marine Le Pen reacts as she meets supporters and journalists after the release of projections based on the actual vote count in select constituencies , Sunday, June 30, 2024 in Henin-Beaumont, northern France. French voters propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong lead in first-round legislative elections Sunday and plunged the country into political uncertainty, according to polling projections. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
French far right leader Marine Le Pen gestures after delivering her speech after the release of projections based on the actual vote count in select constituencies , Sunday, June 30, 2024 in Henin-Beaumont, northern France. French voters propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong lead in first-round legislative elections Sunday and plunged the country into political uncertainty, according to polling projections. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
