Mark Cavendish bows out at Tour de France, admits it was "likely" his last race

Sir Mark Cavendish has ended his Tour de France career — a 17-year-long journey through 15 editions and, of course, 35 stage victories. Moments after rolling across the finish line in Nice, arms aloft having soaked up every last pedal stroke, the Manx Missile told the TV cameras that "likely so, yeah", this is to be his final race.

And what better way to go out? One final victory on the Champs-Élysées aside, perhaps, the completion of yet another comeback to the top of the sport, symbolic of the perseverance and indomitable spirit that has characterised Cavendish's career. From a prologue time trial in London back in 2007, through to a final-stage TT in Nice, he has traversed France — won, lost, suffered, celebrated, cried, crashed, and now gone out on his own terms, taking cycling fans from Britain and beyond along for the ride.

For the final time Mark Cavendish crosses the line at the Tour de France 👋

It’s been a pleasure Cav 🥹#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/qRSd5cP6V2

— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 21, 2024

"It was just about enjoying it," he said afterwards. "There's no pressure for me today which is strange for the final stage of the Tour.

"I've been very, very lucky to have the career I've had. To work with the people I have, to meet the people I have and to be able to live a dream like everybody's dream. You see the success, you see photos of wins, videos of wins, but it's very rare that people see everything that goes in behind. It's taught me a lot about myself. It's taught me a lot about how to be a father. That's the biggest thing I take from the sport really."

Mark Cavendish all smiles as he starts his last ever stage of the Tour de France. #TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/UueJKwwpUD

— NBC Sports Cycling (@NBCSCycling) July 21, 2024

Aptly, considering the suffering he has endured through the mountains these past three weeks, it was not a complete procession and Cavendish had to push hard up the long opening climb of La Turbie, the thought of a final-stage missed time cut unthinkable after weeks of careful calculations and long days out the back with only some loyal teammates and the broom wagon for company.

"Climb fast first of all, if we did the climb all right, then you would be okay," he explained. "I did all right. I know all these roads, I trained a lot around here. I knew my family were waiting at the finish and, yeah, it was just absorbing it. I think I got all the emotions kind of out of the way yesterday and I could just really enjoy today.

"It's a privilege that I've been part of it"

Daniel caught up with Mark Renshaw after the final Tour stage of Mark Cavendish's career 🇦🇺#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/RgsVKkMTIR

— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 21, 2024

"We were back quite late back at the hotel yesterday. We just wanted to be with the boys and with the team and just had a relaxed dinner. We sat and talked after dinner and that was it really.

"So we still had a relaxed job to do today, but we still had a job to do. It was quite a beautiful time trial actually and then my family's here waiting for me. It was nice to see them while crossing the line.

"Of course I'll be back at the Tour de France, even as a spectator. This has been my professional life for 18 years, 16 years [17, Mark, 17 years]. I don't even know. And it's been part of my wider life of dreams for a lot longer than that, 30 years now."

> Mark Cavendish's Tour de France stage-winning bikes — from Giant to Wilier, every bike the Manx Missile rode to his record-breaking 35 Tour stage wins

Ultimately, the time cut was never a danger, seven riders going slower and Cavendish having four minutes to spare. He did finish as the race's Lanterne Rouge, the last rider on GC, six hours 23 minutes behind Tadej Pogačar, equivalent of having completed an extra stage.

Cavendish is to be honoured by the race organisation with a special podium ceremony this evening, the Tour de France keen to recognise the career of one of its modern legends.

Following his record-breaking stage five success, race director Christian Prudhomme called it a "wonderful, wonderful story". He added: "The best sprinter in the history of the Tour. He already was, but he is much more now. Just unbelievable. Nobody believed in him, everybody thought it was too late, but him."

Cavendish embraced his children and wife at the finish. Speaking to NBC, wife Peta gave a glimpse into his mindset: "Mark's a lot of things, but he's not a quitter, he's very loyal and I think more than anything, when you ask what he asks of his teammates, to suffer with him, to put up with rooming with him, to put themselves in the risk that you do in the pointy end of a bunch sprint to take that risk, the least he can do to repay that loyalty is to never give up, to never step off and say, I can't do it any more, unless he physically has absolutely nothing left.

"So I think a lot of why he finishes what he starts comes down to loyalties for people around him."

Chapeau, Cav...

Tadej Pogačar seals Tour de France yellow with one last display of stage-destroying dominance

👑 𝐓𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐉 𝐏𝐎𝐆𝐀𝐂𝐀𝐑

2020 🏆
2021 🏆
2024 🆕#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/wlCFY4Me1R

— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 21, 2024

On the subject of fairytale endings, Tadej Pogačar winning in yellow, his sixth stage win of this Tour de France, following on from the six he won at the Giro d'Italia, pulling off a historic first Giro-Tour double since Marco Pantani in 1998, is about as close to perfection as it gets.

Again, it was the top three on GC versus everyone else, the stage standings mirroring the overall picture, Remco Evenepoel third, Jonas Vingegaard second, and Pogačar first. To the Dane's credit he was only seven seconds down at the first time check, but then UAE Team Emirates's star turned the screw, imperiously stretching the time gap on the rest of the field for one last time this July.

Back to back to back stage wins for now 3 time Tour de France winner, Tadej Pogačar 🙌💛🇸🇮#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/CLjYsjTbYE

— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 21, 2024

One thing's for sure, if Vingegaard and Pogačar can both get a clear run at next year's Tour, without crashes, illness or injuries getting in the way, both riders arriving on the startline in peak condition, then it could be one of the most hotly anticipated Tour de France years ever. Three wins versus two. Combined, the winners of the last five editions. A chance for redemption (in Jonas's case) and a levelling of scores, or (in Tadej's case) an outright victor asserting themself as their generation's number one. Only 349 days until the Grand Départ in Lille...