Must-See T.V. For Cycling Fans: Mark Cavendish Doesn’t Hold Back in New Netflix Documentary
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If you watched the Tour de France last month, you know that Mark Cavendish, 41-year-old sprinting phenom, didn’t get the race he was looking for to end his career. So much so that many are already speculating that he’ll give it one more go.
And as we cross our fingers for that, the new Netflix documentary, Mark Cavendish: Never Enough, gives a thorough look at how he got to where he is now—tied with Eddy Merckx for the most Tour de France stage wins ever (34). For cycling fans, this doc is a must-watch.
The documentary, directed by Alex Kiehl, comes off as entirely raw. Cav likes the f-word. The entire cast of characters, from his wife Peta, to his teammates, coaches, and even rivals, presents as totally honest. It becomes immediately clear how many sacrifices, and how much work goes into one person being the absolute best.
Cavendish lived through so many highs and lows, and any one of those lows would have made mere mortals throw in the towel. The documentary wades into the largely untalked about world of eating disorders among male cyclists, and makes clear that weight is a constant stress.
He is brutally honest and open about his clinical depression diagnosis and describes in detail his experience with the illness that is still so often stigmatized.
The highs literally put Cavendish on top of the world. Some of the wins documented in the film are enough to bring tears to anyone’s eyes. It’s clear that Cavendish’s entire life is about winning—being the best.
While we could have done without all the Lance Armstrong commentary, it was kind of nice that no one was more wrong about Cavendish. Armstrong says over and over that Cavendish has lost his legs, lost his mental game, lost his passion. And it was never true. We also love that at one point Cavendish just literally tells Armstrong to f-off.
Despite the fact that Cavendish has come back to prove himself as the best in the world, there are so many moments of pain. Clinical depression, Epstein-Barr, self doubt, confusion about the future. And ultimately Cavendish’s biggest accomplishment, with a lot of help from so many others, is finding himself. And realizing that he’s more than results and races and even cycling.
That said, if Cav has another year in him, the roar of support behind him will certainly be deafening.
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