No room for sentimentality at Mark Cavendish's final Tour de France

All good things must come to an end and such is the case at this year's Tour de France, which will play host to the final participation for the race's star sprinter of the past 15 years, Mark Cavendish.

Turning out this July in the sky-blue and gold of Astana Qazaqstan, Cavendish has racked up 34 stage wins and two green jerseys across 13 participations at Le Grand Boucle. He'll bid for a record-breaking 35th this summer.

But as well as battling for Tour de France stage wins, be it in Bordeaux, Moulins, or Paris, Cavendish will also understandably be taking in the emotions of competing at the biggest race in cycling for the very last time.

Speaking at Thursday's pre-race press conference in Bilbao, though, Cavendish said that there would, sadly, be little room for sentiment during the race, given the serious business at hand from Saturday's Grand Départ onwards.

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"I've thought about it and actually really unfortunately no because I still have to try and do the job," Cavendish said when asked whether he'd have time to take it all in.

"I know I'll regret that – not living in the moment and enjoying things. It doesn't mean that the whole experience of the Tour de France is – you can't describe it. This race gives the most incredible emotions.

"Unfortunately, you can't really analyse it or appreciate it until afterwards. It's the same every year. I know it's my last one but it's still the same – I have a job to do. You can definitely appreciate the moments of sentiment later."

Cavendish has tasted victory once again since moving from Soudal-QuickStep to Astana over the winter, sprinting to the 162nd win of his career in Rome on the final day of May's Giro d'Italia.

That was the 54th Grand Tour stage win of his storied career, his first since the British National Championships last June, and his first since leaving the famous QuickStep sprint train.

He can look to the likes of Cees Bol, Yevgeniy Fedorov, and Gianni Moscon to work for him in the Astana lead-out this Tour, but how do the two teams differ in their sprint approach?

"Actually, in any team you're in, whether it's a team geared to sprinting or not, you have to adapt to every race you go to. How you play a race depends on what other sprinters are there and you have to make your gameplan around that," Cavendish said.

"Of course, with Astana Qazaqstan being new to sprinting it doesn't mean that the resources aren't there to be able to have an incredible lead-out team, it just takes time to practise it and learn it.

"I've taken a lot of races, even when I haven't crossed the finish line first this year, as wins because I've seen the growth we've had as a team. That's across different guys even down to climbers and GC guys committing to a bunch sprint. Whether you cross the line first or not, if you can see improvements and goals it can count as a win, and I've seen plenty of them this year, so I'm really happy."

Cavendish will have his old lead-out man Mark Renshaw on hand for advice this summer, the Australian coming on board as a sprint consultant for the Tour – "It was quite organic," Cavendish said. "I've spoken to Mark this year and he kind of hinted at it and it was actually quite a good idea." – but as for his own form, he was more coy.

"You never really know where you're at until you start racing, really," he said. "You just do what you can to prepare. I feel alright, thank you."

Groenewegen – Hopefully Cavendish can win a stage here

Cavendish will face off against a plethora of rival fastmen – Jasper Philipsen (Deceuninck-Alpecin), Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-QuickStep), Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny), and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) included – once the peloton hits the first expected sprint stage in Bayonne on stage 3.

He was joined on stage on Thursday by another sprint rival, Jayco-AlUla's Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AIUIa), who can count five stage wins on his Tour de France palmarès. The Dutchman paid tribute to Cavendish, calling him "the best sprinter in the world", and adding that he hopes he can win a stage this Tour.

"When I was young I always looked to the Tour de France and for me the sprints are the most beautiful stages. There was always Mark Cavendish and a lot of other sprinters, of course," Groenewegen said. "His way of sprinting with a lead-out train and his really fast style was always nice to see.”

"Of course I have a lot of respect for Mark and hopefully he can win a stage here. I think he showed in the Giro that his level was really good and he showed he's one of the best sprinters. It's up to us guys to beat him but he's the best sprinter in the world and he still is."

That respect doesn't mean that Groenewegen will be waving Cavendish through in those high-speed thrill-ride sprint finishes, though.

He's in good form having won two stages at the Tour of Slovenia in the build-up to the Tour, and is eyeing day three as a place to dash to Tour de France stage win number six.

"I think last year in the Tour de France the shape was good, so we tried again at the Dauphiné and Slovenia," Groenewegen said of his preparation. "I feel really good on the bike. The wins in Slovenia were good preparation and I had good lead-outs.

"Also in the Dauphiné there was a lot of climbing so that was what I needed for the first few stages here. I think the shape is good, the whole team is good. The first days will be really hard but hopefully we can sprint in the third stage."