Mark Cavendish was again emotional and reflective as the hours counted down to the start of what will be his final Tour de France and his final chance to win a 35th sprint stage.
Last year in Bilbao, the 39-year-old Manxman believed the end of his career was near and wore his heart on his sleeve as the significance of retirement grew. Then the Astana Qazaqstan rider crashed out of the Tour, but quickly committed to racing on in 2024 and returning one last time to the Tour de France.
Now the end of Cavendish’s racing career is near again and he is again emotional, while trying to win sprints and savour it all.
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“I feel it again,” he admitted in his pre-race press conference, the television lights catching a glint of a tear in his eye and the microphones capturing the emotion in his voice.
“I love this sport. I've loved everything about the sport, especially this race. It's quite beautiful this year with the start in Florence, near where I lived for 10 years.
“Starting here, then going to France is just perfect. I’ve got a job to do but on an emotional level, it’s very, very nice. I couldn't have asked for anything more. I think I'm more ready now [for retirement] than I was last year. I'm happy but I'm also so happy I carried on.
“I know I soon won’t have to starve myself anymore, I won't have to leave Peta, the kids anymore. I'm very excited about that. I’ve got exciting things for the future. Even during my career, I got such a buzz out of trying to help other people go faster, showing different things.”
‘We have a job to do, which is to try to win’
Cavendish and his Astana Qazaqstan teammates can savour the opening hilly stages to Rimini and Bologna at the weekend before focusing on the expected first sprint opportunity in Turin on Monday. Other sprint opportunities, perhaps as many as five or six, will follow in the first and second weeks.
Cavendish is already in the Tour de France record books after equalling Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 stage wins but he wants a final win or two, not to move ahead of Merck but because winning sprints drives him on. It is simple what he does.
“We wouldn't be here if we didn’t think it was possible to win,” he said, his ambitions momentarily taking over from his emotions.
“Fundamentally that’s our job as cyclists, to try to win. Realistically there are five or six chances, so we’ve come here to try to do it. I think we’ve got everything in place to try to do it but so does everyone else.
“I don’t have anything to lose, it’s not like playing roulette. If I don't win, I won't lose 34 Tour stages,” he explained with further consideration.
“I’ve won 34 stages at the Tour and the most number of stages along with the great Eddy Merkx. I’m just trying for more, if that’s one more, two more or 10 more, it doesn't matter. We have a job to do, which is to try to win. That’s how we’ll approach it.”
Cavendish indicated he intends to stay in professional cycling when he retires, with reports of a role in Astana Qazaqstan, possibly with new Chinese investment and sponsors in the team in 2025.
For the next three weeks, Cavendish is focused on his racing. He is still a sprinter and pro rider but has reflected on the legacy he will leave.
“I said before I started my career, if I could ever be in a book of names of riders that meant something, the big riders in the history of cycling, if my name is in that book. I'd be happy,” he explained after an emotional long pause for thought.
“As I've grown up, and obviously now have children, I see how they're inspired by not just the cycling heroes or life heroes. That changes your perspective on your position as a sports person.
“I grew up idolising some bike riders and I got to race with some of those people and I got to know some of those people. They made a significant impact on me.
"I understand now that you know I'm fortunate to be in a position of inspiring, not just a generation but a few generations, adults and kids. If I’ve left an impact on them that helps motivate them, then that's what's important.”
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