Il Messaggiere - 'Racing career: completed it!' announces cycling great Cavendish

"Sunday will be the final race of my professional cycling career," wrote the 39-year-old British sprint legend, the record stage winner on the Tour de France with 35, in a post on Instagram.

"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."

"Racing career: completed it!" read the final line of the post.

Cavendish made Tour de France history last July when he eclipsed Eddy Merckx's record which had stood since 1975, having matched the Belgian's mark in 2021.

"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," the rider from the Isle of Man said in his post.

"I love this sport I always have loved this sport. I want to make a difference on the bike, I always have wanted to make a difference. That will not change whether I'm on the bike or not."

Cavendish made his Tour de France debut in 2008 before becoming world road race champion three years later. He won an omnium silver medal at the 2016 Olympics.

Since turning professional in 2005 he had won 165 races, including 17 stages in the Giro d'Italia and three in the Vuelta a Espana. He won the points classification in the Tour in 2011 and 2021, in the Giro in 2013 and in the Vuelta in 2010.

The 'Manx Missile' is just 5-foot-9 (1.75m) tall but showed a pure sprinter's ferocious acceleration, courage and aggression and developed a knack reading how a sprint was unfolding and position himself for the final surge.

He surged to the first of his record-setting Tour de France wins on stage five in 2008, taking four in total that year, six the following season and five each in 2010 and 2011. After four wins in 2016 lifted his total to 30, he had a fallow spell, partly a result of injury and illness.

He was knocked out of the 2017 Tour when he broke a shoulder blade on stage four. The next season, his preparations were hit by more injuries and he was eliminated from the Tour after failing to make the time cut on stage 11.

After the race he was diagnosed with Epstein-Barr virus, but seems to have been suffering from it already for some time.

In 2019, his team, Dimension Data, with whom his relationship had deteriorated, did not select him for the tour.

He moved to Bahrain-McLaren who did not pick him for the 2020 Tour.

- 'Very motivated' -

Cavendish joined Deceuninck–Quick-Step run by his old mentor Patrick Lefevere and after being drafted late into the team for the 2021 Tour won four stages to tie Merckx for the record.

But Lefevere did not select Cavendish for his Tour team the following season.

He moved to Astana in 2023, finished second to Jasper Philipsen on stage seven and then crashed and broke his collarbone the next day.

Cavendish had a reputation as prickly and difficult early in the career, but grew into the role as elderly statesman of the pack. After he sprinted to the Tour record on stage five in 2024, he was engulfed by the peloton.

In addition to his road world title, he won Milan-San Remo, a one-day 'monument' in 2009 and four 'classics' the Milan-Torino in 2022 and Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne three times.

On the track, he paired with Bradley Wiggins to win three world titles in the Madison event.

He was knighted in June 2024.

Cavendish bows out on Sunday in the Singapore Criterium.

He finished second behind Philipsen in last year's race and the Belgian said the Briton would pose the biggest challenge to his title defence.

"Definitely with this being Mark's last race, I think he's very motivated to show off his amazing career that he had," Philipsen said on Saturday.

C.Abatescianni--IM