Mark Cavendish explains his furious public outburst at team mechanic during Tour de France

Mark Cavendish has explained what caused him to lose his temper and shout at a team mechanic before yesterday's Tour de France stage. 

The British sprinter, winner of four stages in this year’s Tour, screamed at the man and angrily slammed his bike into the ground before storming back to the team bus as shocked fans looked on. 

He later explained that he had 'some problems' with the bike before the stage and 'he wanted his bike to be perfect'.

In a video of the incident, he appears to shout at the mechanic, telling him to 'sort it out', before walking away at the start of stage 19 in Mourenx yesterday.

Mark Cavendish, ladies and gentlemen. pic.twitter.com/lls0NyJofM

— Max Vanhove (@MaxBets001) July 16, 2021

Posting on Instagram, the 36-year-old didn't exactly apologise for the incident but appeared to regret the public nature of his outburst.

He said: “Many of you will have seen the video from the start of today’s stage.

“During a day of the Tour de France, as riders we are put in a perilous situation and I wanted my bike to be perfect, in order to help me stay safe. My bike had some problems when I got on it this morning.

"Despite this, I should not have reacted in the way that I did and not so publicly.

“I've been extremely close friends with my mechanics for over a decade and they’ve worked tirelessly to ensure I’ve always been safe and successful. Although they know how short I can be when I'm stressed, no-one, especially those you care about, deserve to have a voice raised to them.

“Truly, one of the biggest factors of the success of Deceuninck-QuickStep is that we are a family, and we love and care for each other, and conversations should be kept within that family.”

Cavendish had hoped to compete for a 35th stage win during the stage, but a breakaway of 20 riders left the peloton well behind.

Cavendish will get another chance in Sunday's final stage, which finishes on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.