Great news!
Mark Cavendish, the greatest sprinter of all time, has decided to give the sport one more year
It’s exciting to think that he will have one more chance to break Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 Tour de France stage wins.
It was on Monday 22nd May 2023, on the second Rest Day at the 2023 Giro d’Italia, Mark Cavendish announced his retirement from professional cycling.
He said he would will be retiring at the end of the 2023 season, after a career that has spanned over 20 years.
Mark Simon Cavendish MBE is a British professional road racing cyclist from the Isle of Man, who rides for UCI World Team Astana Qazaqstan Team.
As a track cyclist he specialises in the Madison, points race, and scratch race disciplines. As a road racer he is a sprinter.
Cavendish is one of the most decorated sprinters in cycling history, with 34 Tour de France stage wins to his name. He is also a former world champion and Olympic medallist.
He said that he was retiring to spend more time with his family and to pursue other interests.
Cavendish is a true legend of the sport, and his retirement would be a major loss to cycling; being one of the most exciting and entertaining riders to watch.
He can look back on his career with great pride, knowing that he was one of the greatest sprinters of all time.
Here are just some of Cavendish’s career highlights:
· 34 x Tour de France stage wins (joint record with Eddy Merckx)
· 1 x World Championship title (2011)
· 2 x National Championship title (2013 & 2022)
· 2 x Olympic medals (1 silver, 1 bronze)
· 3 x Track World Championship titles – Madison (2005, 2008 & 2016)
· 166 career victories
He is widely considered one of the greatest road sprinters of all time, and in 2021 was called “the greatest sprinter in the history of the Tour and of cycling” by Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France.
Cavendish turned professional in 2005, and achieved eleven wins in his first professional season. He has won 34 Tour de France stages, tying him for first on the all-time list with Eddy Merckx, contributing to a third-highest total of fifty-three Grand Tour stage victories.
He won the Men’s Road Race at the 2011 Road World Championships, becoming the second male British rider to do so after Tom Simpson.
He has also won the UK National Championship title twice, in 2013 and 2022.
Cavendish has also won the points classification in all three of the grand tours: the 2010 Vuelta a España, the 2011, and 2021 Tours de France and the 2013 Giro d’Italia.
For Cavendish’s last ever Giro – he won the final stage to make his score 17 Individual Stage Wins and 2 Team Time Trials wins.
However, Mark Cavendish crashed on Stage 8 of the Tour de France on July 8, 2023. And had to retire from the 2023 Tour.
He was in the peloton with about 60 kilometres to go when he collided with another rider and went down.
He was immediately attended to by medical staff and taken to the hospital, where it was confirmed that he had broken his collarbone. And loosened a pin that was already in his collarbone, from a previous crash.
His crash ended his hopes of winning that record-breaking 35th stage at the Tour de France. He had equaled Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 stage wins in 2021.
I’m sure that Cavendish will be determined to make the most of his final year in the peloton. He has a strong team behind him at Astana-Qazaqstan, and he will be motivated to go out with a bang.
I’m looking forward to seeing what Cavendish can achieve in 2024. I wish him all the best for the season ahead.
Cavendish has had a remarkable career, overcoming injuries and illness to return to the top of the sport. He is a role model for many young cyclists, and his decision to continue racing is a boost for the sport as a whole.