Cycling, Mark Cavendish retires: "I was lucky to have this career"

Rome, November 9, 2024 - Now it's really over: Mark Cavendish has officially decided to retire at the end of the season.  

I dettagli

  Thus ends a long dispute that actually began in thesummer 2023. Yes, because the idea of ​​hanging up his bike had occurred to the British rider a long time ago: then everything changed after the fall that occurred in the stage 8, which apparently put an end to the dream of surpassing the record for all-time victories, belonging to a certain Eddy Merckx. By popular demand, however, Cannonball renew with theAstana Qazaqstan Team who, for his part, further strengthens the group of riders good at sprinting: the signing of the other veteran is particularly memorable Michael Morkov, one who in turn has just said goodbye to professionalism. In fact, there is a happy ending and it comes in the stage 5 of the Tour de France 2024, when on the arrival of Saint-Vulbas the British goes to win his 35th total fraction, becoming the absolute record holder: all this, curiously, after having risked going out of time in the very first days of the race, those of the Italy. The goal was achieved, with a special award to Nice, everything seemed set for the withdrawal of Cavendish, who instead spends the rest of the summer and the first months of autumn fiddling and stalling, alternating different versions of what to do which well photographed his confused ideas. Ideas which were now suddenly clear: after the Singapore Criterium 2024, the sprinter of theIsle of Man he will hang up his bike.

The announcement

"Sunday will be my last race as a professional. I have been fortunate to do what I love for almost 20 years and now I can say that I have achieved everything I wanted from the bike. I am happy to end my adventure at Singapore, where I will be at the start for the third time. I have seen this race grow year after year and the number of people on the bike in Asia gradually increase. You don't see many professional teams here, but the movement is clearly growing." Nothing about the farewell of Cavendish it will be random: not even the starting number. "I will run with the 35, which for me represents a fantastic and lucky number. I won 35 times higher al Tour de France and it's an honor especially if I think that most of the riders don't manage to bring home even one stage. It's not easy to win at Great Boucle and the number doesn't even matter, because in the end each stage gives the same pleasure. Be it Saint-Vulbas both Chateauroux (respectively the last and first stage won at Tour de France, ed.) I have always felt the same wonderful sensations, which I will always carry with me". Not only the fractions to the Great Boucle: in the career of Cavendish, professional since 2007, also stand out the 2011 World, Milan-Sanremo 2009, 3 world track titles and stages in all the Grand Tours.

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