Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 21 - Monaco to Nice - Monaco, France - July 21, 2024 Astana Qazaqstan Team's Mark Cavendish is seen with his wife Peta Todd and children after stage 21 Pool via REUTERS/Laurent Cipriani
(Reuters) - British cyclist Mark Cavendish will likely retire after finishing the final stage of the Tour de France on Sunday, having finally achieved his ambition this year of breaking the all-time record for most stage wins at the Tour.
The 39-year-old Cavendish was the second cyclist to start the individual time trial from Monaco to Nice, which ends this year's Tour, and looked emotional as he waved to the crowd on his approach to the finish line.
"It was just about enjoying it. There's no pressure is there for me today, which is strange for a final stage of the Tour. I knew my family were waiting at the finish and it was just absorbing it," Cavendish said.
"I think I got all the emotions out of the way yesterday and I could just really enjoy today I guess."
Asked if this really was his final race, Cavendish paused and said: "Likely so, yeah".
He had previously announced his retirement in May last year but was convinced to delay his decision in October by his Astana-Qazaqstan team to make one final push to claim the Tour de France stage win record for himself.
The Manx Missile had been level on 34 stage wins with Eddy Merckx since 2021 and after crashing out of last year's race that was not how he wanted to bow out.
Cavendish, who won his first Tour de France stage back in 2008, realised his dream when he sprinted to success on stage five this year, his 165th career victory, including the road world title in 2011.
The Isle of Man native also won an individual silver medal on the track at the 2016 Rio Olympics and claimed three career world titles on the track in the Madison discipline.
"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," Cavendish said.
"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, I don't even know.
"And it's been part of my wider life and dreams for a lot longer than that, 30 years now. I'm sure it was always there."
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Ken Ferris)
