Mark Cavendish confirms retirement with final race on Sunday, quashing rumours of racing Tour de France 2025
Published 09/11/2024 at 11:33 GMT
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Mark Cavendish, the legendary sprinter and record-holder for all-time Tour de France stage wins with 35 individual victories, has officially confirmed his retirement. Writing on Instagram, the 'Manx Missile' confirmed that he would ride his final race on Sunday, despite appearing to leave the door open to another Tour de France appearance at the 2025 route unveiling last month.
Stage 5 Highlights: Cavendish makes history with thrilling sprint win
Video credit: TNT Sports
There will be no Tour de France appearance next year for record-breaking sprinter Mark Cavendish, as he officially confirmed his retirement via social media.
The Manxman has already come out of retirement once before but indicated that this time was for real, as he brings the curtain down on a storied and lengthy career on the road and on the track. His final race is set to be this Sunday's Tour de France Singapore Criterium.
Known as the 'Manx Missile', Cavendish finishes his career with wins at all three Grand Tours - a record 35 at the Tour de France, 17 at the Giro d'Italia, and three at the Vuelta a Espana - along with one Monument victory in Milan-San Remo, three Madison world titles, an OIympic silver in the men's Omnium at Rio 2016, and one World Championships road race title.
Writing on Instagram, Cavendish said: "Sunday will be the final race of my professional cycling career. 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.
"Cycling has given me so much and I love the sport, I’ve always wanted to make a difference in it and now I am ready to see what the next chapter has in store for me."
The caption accompanied a video celebrating his achievements through the years, ending with the words "My racing career... completed it."
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Cavendish also won the points classification in all three of the Grand Tours, sported the coveted yellow jersey in 2016, and was awarded a knighthood in 2024 in recognition of his career and charity work.
He raced his final Tour de France this summer, winning Stage 5 to leap clear of the record he had shared with all-time great Eddy Merckx for individual stage victories at cycling's biggest race.
The 39-year-old won his first Tour de France stage in 2008 and made 15 appearances at the race, enjoying periods of huge dominance - particularly early in his career - as well as enduring crashes, a collapse in form, illnesses and injury. He was diagnosed with Epstein-Barr virus in 2018, sparking a torrid few years when he missed out on selection for the race, before his incredible comeback - including four stage wins and the green points jersey - in 2021.
Out of contract at the end of 2022, Cavendish signed with Astana-Qazaqstan in early 2023 and intended to retire at the end of the season after completing one last Tour de France. But he broke his collarbone in a crash on Stage 8 and was forced out of the race, later reversing his decision to retire and returning for one last tilt at breaking the record in 2024 - which he duly did.
There had been speculation that the Manxman might prolong his career even further after he replied with a cryptic "We'll see" to questions over another Tour appearance at the 2025 route unveiling in October.
But that door now seems permanently closed, ironically given the plethora of sprint opportunities in the first week - a far cry from most Tours of previous years.
"Thank you, everyone, for all the support, always," Cavendish's Instagram caption concluded.
Stream the 2025 cycling season, including the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes, live on discovery+
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