Mark Cavendish has introduced his retirement from skilled biking, ending his profession on the Tour de France Criterium in Singapore this weekend.
Cavendish was initially set to retire in 2023 however postponed that after crashing in that yr’s Tour de France. He went on to win his thirty fifth stage on the Tour de France final summer time, surpassing Eddy Merckx’s document.
“Sunday will be the final race of my professional cycling career,” Cavendish stated. “I am lucky enough to have done what I love for almost 20 years and I can now say that I have achieved everything that I can on the bike.
“Biking has given me a lot and I like the game, l’ve all the time wished to make a distinction in it and now I’m able to see what the following chapter has in retailer for me.
“Thank you, everyone, for all the support, always.”
The Manx rider has gained 165 races in his profession together with the 2011 world highway title, whereas he claimed Olympic silver for Nice Britain within the omnium on the 2016 Video games in Rio de Janeiro.
Whereas accumulating his knighthood in October, Cavendish reiterated that he won’t compete within the Tour de France once more, saying: “That’s public knowledge, I won’t do another Tour de France.”
He added of his profession: “I am very fortunate to have got to do what I love for so many years, and to see other people inspired by that and riding bikes themselves.
Mark Cavendish receives medical help after crashing throughout the eighth stage of the 2023 Tour de France
“Seeing how many people ride bikes now, seeing the growth of cycling in this country now and seeing how successful we’ve become at it… it’s incredibly rewarding to be part of that.
“It fantastic. I am only a lad from the Isle of Man, to be a Knight Commander, that is not one thing I might ever have dreamed of.”
Cavendish’s best cycling moments
By Sky Sports’ Nigel Chiu:
2009: Six Tour de France stage wins
Cavendish made his road breakthrough in 2007, two years after he turned professional, and soon became the rider to beat on flat stages.
He won his first Tour de France stage in 2008 with Team High Road and 12 months later the ‘Manx Missile’ tasted victory six times at the Tour.
His dominant victory in the Champs-Elysees that year put him on 10 Tour wins already and Cavendish was arguably at the peak of his career.
Cavendish celebrates successful a stage on the 2009 Tour de France for Group HTC-Colombia
2011: World champion in Copenhagen
The World Championships highway course not often fits the sprinters however the 2011 route in Copenhagen was made for the quick males.
Cavendish went into the occasion having gained one other 5 Tour phases, plus the inexperienced jersey for the primary time, so had a goal on his again.
It was a manic end and Cavendish needed to journey the wheels of his rivals, together with Matthew Gos and Andre Greipel, earlier than rising from the pack on the right-hand aspect within the last 100m to win.
In doing so, he turned Britain’s first world champion on the highway since Tommy Simpson in 1965.
Cavendish gained the rainbow jersey on the 2011 World Championships in Copenhagen
2012: Fourth consecutive Champs-Elysees win
2012 was a disappointing yr for Cavendish as a result of he was unable to contend for a medal on the Olympics as different nations pressured Group GB to convey again the breakaway, a tactic which didn’t work.
He was additionally with a brand new squad – Group Sky – and didn’t have the identical success in comparison with earlier seasons because the workforce’s first objective was to guard Sir Bradley Wiggins on the Tour de France.
On Stage 18, Cavendish had a surprising win when he chased down the breakaway within the last 400m after assist from Group Sky.
Following Wiggins’ Stage 19 time-trial victory, the yellow jersey was sealed and on the ultimate stage on the Champs-Elysees, Group Sky went all-in for Cavendish.
The long-lasting image of Wiggins in yellow serving to to steer out Cavendish within the last kilometre is etched in lots of biking followers’ reminiscence and, as anticipated, Cav stormed to victory to make it 4 Champs-Elysees wins in 4 years.
2016: Olympic silver in Rio
Cavendish had a disappointing document on the Olympics going into 2016, having completed ninth within the males’s madison in Beijing 2008 with team-mate Wiggins and having the frustration of London 2012.
He break up his 2016 season by using on the highway and monitor, with one eye on competing within the velodrome on the Olympics in Rio.
Cavendish rode within the omnium for Group GB and needed to accept silver behind Italian Elia Viviani. He was “super happy” with the consequence although as he banished his Olympic nightmares.
In the identical yr, Cavendish practically turned world champion for a second time on the highway, narrowly dropping out to Peter Sagan in a dash.
Cavendish gained silver on the Rio Olympics in 2016 within the males’s omnium
2021: Silencing his critics
It regarded like Cavendish was going to have little success within the last a part of his profession as he went by means of numerous crashes, accidents and diseases between 2017 and 2020.
He revealed he had been identified with Epstein-Barr virus in 2017 and struggled to climb stairs or play together with his youngsters. On the similar time, different sprinters had now come to the fore.
In 2021, he returned to Deceuninck-Fast-Step and was not going to be chosen for the Tour de France. However, the workforce’s lead sprinter Sam Bennett suffered a knee damage, so Cavendish was referred to as up.
To everybody’s shock, Cavendish gained Stage 4 on the Tour, his first victory at biking’s most well-known race for 5 years.
He went on to win three extra phases and equalled Eddy Merckx’s document of 34 stage victories on the Tour to underline his standing as one of many best riders the game has seen.
Cavendish wins Stage 4 on the 2021 Tour de France as he shocked the biking world
2024: Breaking Merckx’s document
Cavendish narrowly missed out on successful a stage on the 2023 Tour, then crashed and was pressured to desert.
That was set to be Cavendish’s final Tour de France, as he introduced his retirement forward of the race. Nonetheless, he modified his thoughts and determined to proceed racing in 2024 for the Astana Qazaqstan Group.
After a troublesome season previous to the Tour, Cavendish was not anticipated to be on prime kind.
However on Stage 5, he all of the sudden hit the entrance on the finish in a messy dash end to carry off Jasper Philipsen and Alexander Kristoff to interrupt Merckx’s document and transfer right into a league of his personal.
