Mark Cavendish interview: 10 things you didn't know about the Tour de France

1. The Tour de France hurts long before you reach the mountains

“During the Tour you get tired, you get exhausted, you’re in pain and you can get sick for a few days but still have to ride through it.

"The worst thing for a sprinter is that we go full gas from the beginning so we are pretty f***ed even after five days. Then all the general classification riders do interviews on TV and say: ‘The Tour really starts now’ or ‘It starts when we’re in the mountains.’ And you think: (Cavendish blows a raspberry) we have already been on our knees for a week, you know? Where have you been?”

2. There is nothing worse than scrubbing gravel out of your wounds

“Crashes are the worst thing because your wounds stick to you, so you are sweating into your road rash all day and when you try to sleep your wounds are sticking to the bed sheets. It is part of the job and we know the risks. The worst part isn't the falling off, it’s when you are in the shower afterwards and you have to scrub the gravel out of your wounds.

"One of my best friends is a MotoGP rider (Cal Crutchlow) and I think it’s crazy when he smashes his finger up or breaks a bone, but MotoGP riders don't get road rash because they have leathers. So he says he’s rather get road rash but I say I’d rather break stuff than get road rash.”

^{Mark Cavendish suffered nasty road rash in the 2012 Giro}

3. We often top the tonne on mountain descents

“The descents are quite fun - everybody has a sort of competition and tries to go for it and then you compare top speeds when you get to the bottom. But don’t forget we’re doing it on closed roads and this is our profession so we know what we’re doing.

"It wasn’t at the Tour de France but I reached 124kph on a descent in the Tour de Suisse in 2009. On the same descent (Swiss cyclist) Fabian Cancellara hit over 131kph.”

4. Riders don’t get to soak up the scenery

“When I train I enjoy the surroundings but when we are racing we just see the wheel ahead and the arse of the guy in front of us - that’s about it. You do notice the fans quite a lot, but it’s more a case of hearing the general cheering – you can’t hear what individual fans are saying. It’s a positive energy.”

^{Picture postcard scenery from the Tour de France (Photo: Getty)}

5. The hotels can be surprisingly basic

“People imagine that we are all staying in nice hotels but we’re not. Over the course of the three weeks you get good hotels and bad hotels. There is a system in place so that no team gets special treatment. Every team gets 50 stars – or something like that – and the good and bad hotels are divided across the teams so you get a mix. Over the course of the three weeks no team gets preferential treatment.

"Imagine riding 200km and then you end up in some little Campanile (a European budget hotel chain) with no aircon and so little room you have to climb over your suitcase to get in the bathroom at night? It’s not the easiest.”

6. Never manhandle a professional cyclist

“The beautiful thing about cycling is that it is so accessible and that pleased me when I was younger because you felt like you could almost touch the athletes.

"But cycling is a big sport and people are always asking for an autograph. I don’t mind at all, I’m very proud of it, but I don’t like it when someone just grabs me. If someone stops treating me like a human being and starts treating me like an animal or a product, that frustrates me.

"When you stay in a Campanile hotel sometimes you get people knocking on your door which can be disturbing when you’re tired. But in general it’s a great feeling to receive so much support and it’s nice to see so many people interested in my sport.”

7. Tour de France teammates quickly become best friends

“We really do have amazingly close friendships in cycling. The Tour de France is an emotional rollercoaster so it completely bonds you as a group.

"People are so close after those three weeks because you are living in each other’s company and you suffer every emotion together. We obviously bug each other and you get frustrated but we are always working together and we’re incredibly close by the end.”

^{Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins rode together for Team Sky}

8. In between all the pasta and porridge we might have the odd treat

“At my former team HTC we used to have a tradition that on the night before Paris (the final stage of the Tour) the chef would prepare homemade burgers and fries.

"On a rest day you might get a cake for dessert. But three weeks is not that long to stay focused and stick to the plan. You find a way to have little treats, though. I love pistachios. They are perfect snacks for athletes – the salted ones make you feel like you’re having a treat, like a bag of crisps, but you’re getting the protein too.

"During a ride I take all my food with me but when we reach the feed zone and grab our musettes (bags containing food and drink), I might grab a little mini can of Coke – that’s pretty nice if it’s hot.”

^{Pistachios: a bike rider's best friend}

• READ:

What a Tour de France cyclist eats in one day

9. We survive the pain by talking about baby gadgets

“A lot of the long-distance stages are just about making up the miles to gradually wear you down over the three weeks. You have to pass the time so when we ride along we will talk about anything.

"There was a time when guys around my age would talk about cars or women and now we are riding along talking about Bugaboos. Instead of talking about what engines are in certain cars, we now look if the car has got an Isofix (an attachment for a child safety seat). Things have changed a bit.”

^{Talk of the peloton: the Bugaboo}

10. Riders don’t always have a big party after the last stage in Paris

“At one of my old teams we had a lot of successful riders and some would get p***ed off if we didn’t celebrate at the end, as though nobody respected or appreciated what we had achieved. But these days people often like to see their families after being away for three weeks.

"It’s nice to celebrate as a team but it’s not great to organise a party in advance for the end of July because if you have a s*** Tour de France, what’s the point having a party? It’s always better if you win.”

^{Mark Cavendish celebrates after winning stage 7 of the Tour de France}

Mark Cavendish is an ambassador for American Pistachio Growers. Cavendish has declared the American-grown pistachio nut as his official snack.