“Mark Cavendish: Never Enough” on Netflix is a documentary that, in almost every sense, lives up to its title. It is equally beautiful, fierce, inspiring, and powerful. This is due to the fact that it uses both historical material and unique interviews to fully illuminate the ascent, decline, and recovery of the film’s central British professional road racing cyclist. Bernie Eisel, a friend of Mark Cavendish and a former professional cyclist, was one of those featured here to advance the story. If you’re interested in learning more about him, then keep reading to find out what is known about him.
Who is Bernie Eisel?
Bernie Eisel was born on February 17, 1981, and it is said that his love of cycling began when he was just a young child growing up in Austria. Over the years, his enthusiasm has only grown. The fact that he actually won his first competitive race when he was only 11 years old inspired him to pursue his aspirations immediately and move to Italy at the age of 17 to join the Rinascita Ormelle team. The teenager, however, didn’t turn professional until he was 20 years old, after competing for another team, Gli Amici Piave, before joining Mapei-Quick-Step in 2001.
Although it was Bernie’s switch to the T-Mobile squad in 2007 that really aided in his worldwide ascent as both a rider and as Mark Cavendish’s right-hand man on the squad. We say this because the sprinter would probably not even be close to where he stands now as a recognised athlete if it weren’t for him guarding the sprinter along the course at every event to ensure his lead. Regarding his individual performances/accomplishments during these early years, the road racer won two competitions before finishing eighth at Paris-Roubaix in 2011 to earn his highest finish in a historic race.
Bernie joined his now-close buddy Mark Cavendish in switching to the British professional team Team Sky in the same year that he was appointed to the first UCI Athletes’ Commission. He stayed there till the end of 2015 despite the fact that his lead sprinter had chosen to depart after three years to join Omega Pharma-Quick Step, giving him the opportunity to stand out a little more. However, the pair reconnected as soon as they both joined for MTN-Qhubeka (later renamed Team Dimension Data), where the former lasted until declaring his retirement in 2020. This happened in the autumn of 2015.
Where is Bernie Eisel Now?
Even though Bernhard (or Bernie) abandoned competitive cycling in January 2020, just a few months after Mark moved on to Bahrain-McLaren, he is still involved in it today. In fact, before being named directeur sportif by team Bora-Hansgrohe for the 2022 season, he worked as a presenter, reporter, and pundit for Eurosport plus Global Cycling Network (GCN). In other words, he merely changed roles in the realm of road bicycle racing, and he apparently intends to spread his wings even farther here because he genuinely enjoys it.
“I loved my job of being on the other side of the fence [as a broadcaster] — interviewing the riders, seeing the race from a different angle,” Bernie openly said to former employer Eurosport in 2022. When the position of directeur sportif was officially offered by Bora-Hansgrohe, I chose to accept it because I started missing being in one group and simply enjoying winning. Regarding his goals as a directeur sportif, he continued, “I hope I can manage to be a sports director as I was a rider, trying to be natural and this means that when it really comes to the important moments, the crunch time,” he can make sure that his riders are as ready as they can be for what they’ll be facing.
