The film offers a few nods to Cavendish's larger biography, beginning with footage of him as a school-aged cyclist, but most of the film's arc is from the 2016 Tour de France to the 2021 race, a segment that it encompasses him at his competitive peak, his nadir, and his eventual return to form. It's a very action-packed documentary, with plenty of exciting racing footage balanced out by the de rigueur interviews.
There aren't many bigger names in contemporary competitive cycling than Mark Cavendish. The British road racer quickly became one of the best in the world, becoming the youngest Briton to win a Tour de France stage, and threatening to challenge one of the sport's most enduring records: the mark of Belgian great Eddy Merckx of 34 individual stage wins in the Tour de France. . By 2016, he was at the height of his career, considered one of the best sprinters in the world.
Director: Alex Kiehl
Star: Mark Cavendish
Shortly thereafter, he was diagnosed with the Epstein-Barr virus, a common illness that in some cases, including Cavendish's, can lead to chronic fatigue. For a notoriously high-energy competitor in an extremely demanding sport, the diagnosis was devastating, and there was no treatment other than rest and time. Cavendish quickly lost weight and lost his usual running power. Many in the sport speculated that his career was indeed over, a sentiment perfectly epitomized in Mark Cavendish: Never Enough by clips from notorious American cyclist Lance Armstrong's podcast, where Armstrong himself says the same thing. A controversial crash with Peter Sagan knocked Cavendish out of the 2017 Tour de France and fostered a feeling that his time in the sun and his pursuit of Merckx's record were over.
In the 2018 Tour de France, Cavendish missed the time cutoff, the first time he had been eliminated during the competition. "Sad to see," notes a commentator on race footage. "We wish you the best," says another, in the tone used when you know the best is over. “Would you call this bottoming out?” a reporter asks Cavendish. "Yes," he replies. "I think so."
“You don't go from being the best in the world to being really incapable of… how? How does it happen?” Cavendish recalls, still in disbelief at how quickly his power has drained, and both he and his wife Peta reflect on how it changed him emotionally, angering him and making him hard to live with.
This arc, from Cavendish's competitive peak in 2016 to his fall in 2018 and beyond, and his redemptive return in 2021, is the primary time frame for Mark Cavendish: Never Enough. It's a genuine emotional journey, as Cavendish wrestles not only with Epstein-Barr, but also with the clinical depression fostered by his inability to compete in the sport he loves. As he struggles, he returns to the Tour de France in 2021 after a two-year absence from the race and ultimately ties Merckx's record, we see Cavendish change and mature. Not only is he regaining his form as an athlete, he's maturing, moving away from the brash, abrasive and never-satisfied rider he was before his adversity and becoming a more solid, well-rounded figure.
Avid cycling fans will appreciate a behind-the-scenes look at one of the sport's most compelling figures, but even if you're not heavily invested in the sport, Mark Cavendish: Never Enough is a story of redemption and comeback worthy of a sports movie. Disney, and it's a solid way to spend a few hours.
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