This time, in fact, is the end. After postponing his retirement for a year to set the record for stage victories in the Tour de France, Britain’s Mark Cavendish announced on Saturday, November 9, that he would definitively end his career after a final criterion in Singapore the following day. .
“Sunday will be the last race of my career.writes the 39-year-old sprinter on his Instagram account. Cycling has given me a lot and I love the sport. “I always wanted to leave my mark there and today I am ready to see what the next chapter has in store.”adds the Isle of Man corridor.
165 victories, 35 of them in the Grande Boucle
Since his arrival in the professional world in 2005, Mark Cavendish has won 165 races, including the Road World Championship in 2011. The man who played the last two seasons in the ranks of the Astana Qazaqstan team, had already announced his retirement by the end of the 2023 season.
But a serious fall on the roads of the Dordogne during the Tour de France and his withdrawal from the rest of the race led him to postpone his departure from the circuit for a year. At issue: the record for stage wins on the Grande Boucle that he later shared with Belgian legend Eddy Merckx (34). By winning on July 3 in Saint-Vulbas, in Ain, “le Cav” managed to surpass “Cannibale” in the annals of the Grande Boucle.
When he retires, we will also remember that he raised his arms 17 times in the Tour of Italy, three times in Spain. Which also has a Monument – these most prestigious one-day races – on its list: Milan-San Remo in 2009.
“I have been lucky enough to do what I love for almost 20 years and now I can say that I have achieved everything I could on a bicycle”declared the interested party. “Thank you for everything you have given to our athlete, you will always be a legend and a source of inspiration”commented the Dane Michael Morkov, who was his pilot fish in Quick-Step and then in Astana.
On Sunday in Singapore, on a 2.3 kilometer circuit that will be covered twenty-five times, Mark Cavendish will have the opportunity to compete for the last time against the fastest riders in the peloton, such as the Belgian Jasper Philipsen or the Ethiopian Biniam Girmay, green jersey . from the last Tour de France.
