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 season, surpassing Eddy Merckx’s file.
“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 received 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 amassing his knighthood in October, Cavendish reiterated that he is not going to 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 through 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 may 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 Workforce HTC-Colombia
2011: World champion in Copenhagen
The World Championships highway course hardly ever fits the sprinters however the 2011 route in Copenhagen was made for the quick males.
Cavendish went into the occasion having received one other 5 Tour levels, plus the inexperienced jersey for the primary time, so had a goal on his again.
It was a manic end and Cavendish needed to trip the wheels of his rivals, together with Matthew Gos and Andre Greipel, earlier than rising from the pack on the right-hand facet within the closing 100m to win.
In doing so, he grew to become Britain’s first world champion on the highway since Tommy Simpson in 1965.
Cavendish received 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 Workforce GB to deliver again the breakaway, a tactic which did not work.
He was additionally with a brand new squad – Workforce Sky – and didn’t have the identical success in comparison with earlier seasons because the workforce’s first purpose was to guard Sir Bradley Wiggins on the Tour de France.
On Stage 18, Cavendish had a shocking win when he chased down the breakaway within the closing 400m after assist from Workforce Sky.
Following Wiggins’ Stage 19 time-trial victory, the yellow jersey was sealed and on the ultimate stage on the Champs-Elysees, Workforce Sky went all-in for Cavendish.
The enduring image of Wiggins in yellow serving to to guide out Cavendish within the closing 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 file 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 Workforce 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 almost grew to become world champion for a second time on the highway, narrowly dropping out to Peter Sagan in a dash.
Cavendish received silver on the Rio Olympics in 2016 within the males’s omnium
2021: Silencing his critics
It appeared like Cavendish was going to have little success within the closing a part of his profession as he went via a lot of crashes, accidents and sicknesses between 2017 and 2020.
He revealed he had been identified with Epstein-Barr virus in 2017 and struggled to climb stairs or play along 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 received 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 levels and equalled Eddy Merckx’s file of 34 stage victories on the Tour to underline his standing as one of many biggest 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 file
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. Nevertheless, he modified his thoughts and determined to proceed racing in 2024 for the Astana Qazaqstan Workforce.
After a troublesome season previous to the Tour, Cavendish was not anticipated to be on high type.
However on Stage 5, he immediately hit the entrance on the finish in a messy dash end to carry off Jasper Philipsen and Alexander Kristoff to interrupt Merckx’s file and transfer right into a league of his personal.
