Even sitting nearly 10,000km away from France, in a hotel in Japan there is no escaping the power of the Tour de France.
Fans wait outside the doors of the lobby trying to catch an autograph from their cycling heroes who are out for the Tour de France Saitama Criterium – Mark Cavendish taking centre stage among a lustrous list of assembled stars as the Astana Qazaqstan rider lines up at the event for perhaps the last time in his career.
When the racing gets underway crowds of spectators stand out in the rain for hours on end to catch glimpses of their favourite riders flying past and deliver appreciative cheers when Cavendish takes to the stage to farewell and thank the fans at the end of the event. The cultures may be distinct, but the passion for this incomparable Grand Tour is the same.
It’s a story that rings true across the globe, with the Eritrean 2024 points jersey winner Biniam Girmay, 24, recalling the impact of his childhood viewing of the event that even the most tenuous fans of cycling can’t miss. The top sprinters sparked a dream, one in particular that he is now lining up against.
“I'm one of the kids inspired from Cavendish to be honest,” Girmay told Cyclingnews in an interview in Saitama before the criterium, which he won, unfolded. “I remember when I started watching cycling … he was winning his first stage in the Tour when he was with HTC Columbia, it blew my mind …I was like ‘fuck, I want to be like this guy in the future’.”
“For me, it's a big honour to race with Cavendish, I always say to him also,” said the Intermarché-Wanty rider, who has now grown from that kid with a “big idol” to a rider the new generation is looking up to.
There is no question the race watched by 150 million in Europe, according to the official statistics, and many more beyond plays a massive part in inspiring cycling dreams and passion for those watching. It’s also the case for the riders who are swept into the incomparable experience of being centre stage and nowhere is that more evident than in Cavendish, who has long felt and sought the full glare of that spotlight.
Cavendish first rode the Tour de France in 2007, won his first stages in 2008 and took his 35th stage victory this July. He is now 39 and the expectation once he took the record in hand was that this year’s edition would be his last appearance at the race where he has made the cycling memories he’ll cherish the most.
“It's not even a bike race, it's the Tour de France,” Cavendish told Cyclingnews and Cycling Weekly. “Like, I don't understand why it's not like that for every bike rider. I don't understand it. If you’ve won one stage of the Tour it changes your life.”
Peaking physically, emotionally and mentally in July
So what does winning 35 stages at the Tour de France mean for Cavendish?
When he captured victory on stage 5 of the Tour de France this year in the village of Saint-Vulbas, it was the last step in taking the British rider to an all-time stage win record built win after win between 2008 to 2024.
He topped the record set by Eddy Merckx in a captivating style, repeatedly digging into his well of resilience year after year to overcome a plague of setbacks and obstacles – from abrupt contract endings to long-lasting health issues and a crash in 2023 that then prompted him to put off his retirement plans to chase, and ultimately capture that final, record-breaking, stage victory.
The tally of 35 Tour de France wins is an impressive, almost unfathomable number in modern cycling, but the tenacious way it was delivered also plucked on the heartstrings of everyone in the cycling.
It was a fairytale ending. Yet in real life, the story continues.
Much has changed in the sport and for Cavendish since his first Tour de France stage win in 2008. Not least, the family he now has to cheer him on, to miss when he is away but also to buoy him when he returns, draw joy from and set an example for.
“With my own kids, one of them is mad into cycling. Just being able to see yourself in them is something nice. So is being able to show them what dedication and hard work give you, what being in a team environment can give you, what travelling can give you. Hopefully, you can teach them, even if they are not going to be cyclists, you can teach them what you have learned from it that can help them in their life as well,” says Cavendish.
So much went into securing Cavendish's record-breaking win in July, that when Tour finished on July 21, his family immediately took centre stage.
“I was away from home for the last year when I was preparing for the Tour de France, so I was very fortunate my team, Astana Qazaqstan, gave me some rest and relax time after the Tour,” Cavendish explains.
”I was able to go on holiday with my family. I was still riding obviously. I ride my bike, have always ridden my bike, always will ride my bike. But it's been a nice year spending time as a family with the kids doing stuff.”
It also provided relief from the normal obligations of the season, that have long included having to continue on for the rest of the year after “you peaked in July, both physically and emotionally, mentally”.
“Knowing that you don’t have to keep on the top of your game for something that isn't as important to you as a Tour de France that's been quite relaxing as well,” said Cavendish
“It's always been hard for me to get motivated for anything except the Tour. Ok, you can have a certain amount of motivation as a professional bike rider, it's my job, but, doing it for joy, rather than a chore, has been quite nice this summer, that’s for sure.”
Still, come November, the Tour de France called again.
Cavendish, who has been to Japan several times, travelled with his partner Peta, making the most of the experience but also keen to give back to the event that meant so much.
“I want to come here regardless of how much I win or will win or do…” Cavendish says.
“Obviously the Tour de France is my life, has been my life for a long time. And everybody at the ASO [Tour de France organisers] I'm friends with, so it's quite easy to arrange to come out here and to do it.”
What may not be so easy, however, is saying goodbye.
A final goodbye or a farewell for now?
When Cavendish’s participation in the Tour de France Singapore Criterium on Sunday November 10 was announced it was touted as “his final challenge” after 18 seasons in the professional ranks. As a 'last dance' it seems a fitting way to sign off with a moment of Tour de France celebration.
Yet Cavendish doesn't want to talk about the end. At the Tour de France route presentation, the questions over whether it would in fact be his final contest began. His “Yeah, we’ll see…” reply in France, mixed with a smile, raised more doubts. There was also no removing that uncertainty in Saitama.
When asked by Cyclingnews, his answer was a polite but clear “I’m not talking about the future, if that’s ok”.
Then in his televised speech graciously thanking the spectators, cycling fans and organisers of Saitama for their support he concluded by saying “what a wonderful day to enjoy probably my last race in Japan”. The 'probably', of course, could mean many things, from continuing on to keeping the options option or perhaps contemplating a post-retirement guest appearance like Vincenzo Nibali, who is lining up with the Tour de France legends team at the Singapore criterium on Sunday.
Whether or not Cavendish will say farewell to racing in the heat and humidity of Singapore, two things are certain – the fans will once again turn out in force on Sunday happy to be able to welcome such a huge figure in the history of sport to their home roads and, racing or not, Cavendish will not stray far from the action.
When asked if he could ever see a day when he wasn’t involved in professional cycling in some form or another, Cavendish once again made his passion for the sport clear.
“I don't think so, you never know. It's what I know, it’s what I have success in, it's what I have the network in, it is what I love more than anything.
“So of course. I want to stay in cycling forever.”
