Mark Cavendish tired of Tour de France 'chicken pox'

Etixx-Quick-Step sprinter Mark Cavendish bemoans the number of climbs between now and the final Tour de France stage in Paris

Mark Cavendish during the Team Presentation of the 2015 Tour de Francet

(Image credit: Watson)

Sprinters hate mountains and Mark Cavendish is no exception.

The Manxman took to Twitter before Thursday's stage 18 bemoaning the number of red dots on the route profile, which indicate categorised climbs.

With seven climbs on the 186.5km route from Gap to Saint-Jean-De-Maurienne, Cavendish noted that the route map had chicken pox and said he was sick of the mountain stages already.

Luckily there are only two more mountainous stages left before Cavendish returns to his second home of the Champs-Elysees, although his chances of another final stage win took a dent as Mark Renshaw dropped out of the race.

Cavendish's trusty leadout man abandoned the race around the halfway mark of stage 18, leaving the 26-time stage winner with just five teammates after Michal Kwiatkowski quit on Wednesday.

The Etixx-Quick-Step fast man will rely on Zdenek Stybar, Michal Golas, Matteo Trentin, Rigoberto Uran and Julien Vermote to lead him to the finish line if he is to win his fifth final-stage win.

Take a look at Mark Cavendish's Tour de France bike

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Stuart Clarke is a News Associates trained journalist who has worked for the likes of the British Olympic Associate, British Rowing and the England and Wales Cricket Board, and of course Cycling Weekly. His work at Cycling Weekly has focused upon professional racing, following the World Tour races and its characters.