Along with his many Grand Tour stage wins, Cavendish has worn the jerseys of all three leaders, including the 2016 Tour de France . : GETTY/JEFF PACHOUD
Mark Cavendish announced his decision to retire at the end of this season, saying he has «made a dream come true» for an outstanding 20-year pro career.
Speaking with his family at a press conference in Coccaglio on Monday, the last day of rest at the Giro d' spend more time with them and less time on the road, although he will certainly continue to play the sport.
He added: “Cycling has been my life for over 25 years. I lived an absolute dream. Biking has given me the opportunity to see the world and meet incredible people, many of whom I am proud to call friends.
«I love sports more than you can imagine and I can.» I don't see myself going too far on that, that's for sure.»
Telegraph Sport analysis Cavendish has nothing more to prove
There are few journalists in cycling who have not heard a harsh word from Mark Cavendish at one time or another. Tales are legion. My own favorite has to do with a colleague who left the media center towards the end of a one year leg of the UK tour to meet the Manxman on schedule, only to pull up on the Cavendish bus without knowing the leg results.
Late for an interview, with no signal on his phone and not wanting to admit that he didn't know what just happened in the race he was supposed to be covering, he tried to take a picture of him, muttering something inaudible like, «So.» …happy enough with that, Mark?
«What are you, e—— s—?» came the answer. It turned out that Cavendish crashed in the sprint.
Cavendish is known for its sharpness. He can be prickly if you catch him in a bad mood. He can be aggressive. He is also one of the most colorful athletes this country has ever produced. And one of the most talented.
There was a period in his career where you almost certainly knew that if Cavendish was in the group sprint, he would win it. Between 2007 and 2015, he scored 133 victories, including the world title in Copenhagen in 2011, stages in all three Grand Tours and victory at the Milan-San Remo race in 2009. achievement.
Cavendish is the greatest sprinter the sport has ever known. And he's not just a sprinter. He is a cunning racer and tactician. Cavendish twice became national champion in road racing. Indeed, at the current Giro d'Italia, he rides in the jersey of the British champion. He won three world titles in Madison on the track.
Fate and bad luck meant that he never won the Olympic gold medal he coveted and which he knew the British public attached so much importance to. He missed the track in 2008 when he and «big brother» Bradley Wiggins really should have won, and again on the road in 2012 when his teammates failed to get him to the sprint, which he undoubtedly won. . He took silver in the omnium in Rio 2016. But the absence of this trinket made no difference to cyclists. His position in the sport is undeniable.
Cavendish softened a little in his insanity. As a father, husband and race car driver who has come back countless times (the list is endless: two years with Epstein-Barr virus in 2017 and 2018; a shoulder injury that continues to hurt him; clinical depression, a subject he spoke about during lockdown; horrific violent robbery that he and his family endured in late 2021), he has a broader outlook on life and cycling.
But one thing that has never changed is the fact that he wears his heart on his sleeve. The Cavendish is passionate, emotional, fiercely loyal to his friends and teammates, and has a short temper. That's why his extraordinary return to the Tour de France in 2021, when after three years without any victory, he won four stages to equal the great Eddy Merckx as the most successful Tour stage winner of all time, was so enthusiastic. received. Like it or hate it, Cavendish is a box office success.
His press conference on Monday's second day of rest at the Giro, his wife Peta and children by his side, was in keeping with his second coming. After years on the road, living in hotels, training at his base in Quarrata in Tuscany, where friend and neighbor former MotoGP rider Cal Crutchlow sometimes raced for him, it was time, he said, to spend more. spending time with his family.
“Today is Kasper’s fifth birthday,” Cavendish mused, pointing to his son, who is completely obsessed with bicycles. «It's important that from now on I can attend all of their birthdays.»
The Cavendish family has announced their plans to retire. Photo: AP/Antonio Calanni
Cavendish will have another chance to win at the 17th stage of the Giro in Caorle on Wednesday. But this is, of course, the tour of this summer, where all attention will be riveted on him. Will he be able to get a win at stage 35 that will take him off the Merckx? Cavendish has been known to hate being asked about a «record», which he says only became a thing because others made it. On Monday, he again insisted that he would try to do the same, whether he was aiming for No. 35 or No. 19. But of course he would love it.
He will have to do this without the help of a recognized sprint train. Astana, which Cavendish joined this year after a career racing for Highroad, Team Sky, QuickStep and Dimension Data, doesn't have much of a sprinting pedigree, and Cavendish has yet to win this year, often left alone in the final kilometers. But he does seem to have legs if he can just hook onto the right wheel. At this Giro he was very close to success.
Cavendish crashed at this year's Giro but still looks competitive at the end working day. Photo: Getty Images/LUCA BETTINI. Cavendish has nothing more to prove to anyone. In 2016 Telegraph Sport attempted to rank the top 10 British cyclists of all time. Cavendish finished second behind Wiggins. Of course, such ratings are stupid. It is impossible to compare eras and disciplines. But one thing is clear, there will never be anyone like Mark Cavendish.
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