Mark Cavendish says he has most likely ridden the last race of his professional career, after finishing the Tour de France in Nice yesterday.
The Tour finale relocated away from Paris for the first time since the race began in 1903 because of the build-up to the Olympics.
Cavendish was part of the winners’ celebration following the race, in honour of his record 35th Tour stage win on stage five.
In a fitting finale, he was greeted by his wife, Peta, and the couple’s children, after Tadej Pogacar won the final stage — a 34km time-trial — for his sixth stage win of this year’s race and the overall Tour victory.
Asked if this was to be his last race, Cavendish said: “Likely so, yeah.”
The Isle of Man rider had announced plans to retire last season but performed a U-turn after narrowly missing out on that 35th stage win in the Tour and then crashing out of the race.
Cavendish did not overly exert himself on the final stage, ensuring he was inside the cut-off time, but still taking time to high-five fans.
“First and foremost, it was just trying to make the time limit,” he said. “But I did the climb okay and I knew I’d be okay. I know these roads, I’ve trained a lot around here, so then it’s just about enjoying it.
“There’s no pressure for me today, which is strange for the final stage of the Tour. I knew my family was waiting and it was just [about] absorbing it. I got all the emotions out of the way yesterday and I could just really enjoy today.”
Cavendish boasts 55 grand tour stage wins and 165 professional victories in all.
Pogacar sealed his third Tour win and became the first man since Marco Pantani in the late 1990s to win both the Tour and the Giro d’Italia in the same year.
The Slovenian cemented his dominance on the time-trial, beating overall runner-up Jonas Vingegaard by one minute and three seconds, with third-place finisher Remco Evenepoel a further 11 seconds back.
