Mark Cavendish secured a triumphant victory in his final race as a professional cyclist. The 39-year-old showcased his signature sprint finish to cross the finish line first in the Tour de France Prudential Singapore Criterium. Cavendish's fellow competitors honored him with a guard of honor before the race, and the Manxman was visibly emotional at the end.
Speaking to Eurosport through tears, he said: "I realized in the last five laps that it was the final 15 kilometers of my career. I passed the flamme rouge for the last time in my career and felt it deeply. I hadn't raced since the Tour de France, so I missed that sharpness, and with the lead-out teams here, it was always going to be challenging, but the incredible job my team, Astana Kazakhstan, did leading me out, I had to go."
"I had to let Jasper [Philipsen] and Biniam [Girmay] in during the final lap; I was nervous about crashing or something if I fought. I really wanted to finish at least my last race. I could feel the lead coming, and when I passed Jasper, I could feel him speed up, but I wanted that victory so badly. I'm incredibly proud to win the Tour de France Prudential Criterium as my last professional race."
In the summer, Cavendish achieved his 35th stage win in the Tour de France, breaking the record he had jointly held with Eddy Merckx. He also won 20 stages across the Vuelta a España and the Giro d'Italia, winning the points classification twice at the Tour de France and once each in the other two grand tours. His success extended to the track, where he won an Olympic silver medal in the omnium in Rio in 2016, and he was a three-time world champion in the Madison and a Commonwealth champion for the Isle of Man in the scratch race.
What retirement holds remains uncertain, but it seems Cavendish is not planning to stay away from cycling for long. "I love this sport, I've always loved this sport, especially the Tour de France," he said. "The Tour de France isn't just a bike race; it's the biggest annual sporting event in the world. It's what children dream of, it's what adults dream of, it's what you pretend to do when you're out training."
"Cycling is such a form of freedom, a way to meet people, a way to be alone with your thoughts, a way to be however you want to be. It has so much potential as a sport, as a mode of transport, as a pastime, and I truly believe this and have always believed this. I try to do anything I can to help this move forward." "That won't stop, even if I'm not riding a bike anymore. In fact, I might be able to put more into that now. I'm really looking forward to what the rest of my career holds, just not on the bike. I couldn't have wished for a better send-off than here. To have my wife and my friends here is brilliant. I'm so emotional, I'm so grateful, and I hope everyone enjoyed that."
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