After beginning his 2024 season with WorldTour racing and trips to the UAE and Colombia, Mark Cavendish turned up for a race in a more down-to-earth setting at the weekend – the Nick Corkill Memorial Road Race on home turf, the Isle of Man.
The superstar sprinter was mixing it up among a field of 49 racers from local clubs such as the Manx Viking Wheelers and Team Utmost/Mezzo Isle of Man, as well as former Sky and TotalEnergies pro Chris Lawless, who came out on top on the day.
A report by VeloUk.net said that Cavendish was a "surprise late addition to the field" and did some work with junior riders on the challenging 9.5-mile circuit before taking part in the main 80km race, where he finished the day in 29th.
Cycling Weekly spoke to one of the organisers of the Nick Corkill Memorial Race, Richard Fletcher, to get the lowdown on how a 34-time Tour de France stage winner ended up taking part in the local event.
"I was actually at a party on Sunday night," Fletcher told Cycling Weekly. "I messaged Cav back and said, 'Bring your licence and bring 20 quid'. And that was it. He was like, 'Cheers, mate'. And that was the exchange.
"Although we have to be quite strict with entry closure because otherwise everybody just takes the mickey, we all sort of agreed that if it is a Conti-level rider or a WorldTour rider, we always put them in, because their programmes can change. That's the only slack we cut them. They rock up, pay their entry fee, and none of them complain about it."
One fellow racer, James Meakin, who finished 16th for Trash Mile Racing, told Cycling Weekly that Cavendish was vocal during the race, making sure the group was "a cohesive bunch" and that riders took their turns on the front.
"From the gun, he was very vocal with the other riders," he said. "He made sure they were pulling their turn. There are a lot of junior cyclists who are future stars for representing the Isle of Man, and he was very good at getting everyone to work together and be a cohesive bunch."
Lawless won the race with a late breakaway attack, while Cavendish reportedly eased off the pace and rolled home across the line in the main pack.
"I presented the trophies at the end," Fletcher said of the post-race festivities. "I'm looking out there, it's a football clubhouse, a typical British club event, and I'm calling out the names of people who've won the categories, and there's these people dotted in the audience, clapping, with a cup of tea in their hand.
"Cav's there, and he's just a normal club guy. It's really nice to see, and I know I'm getting sort of sentimental about it, but it is a nice thing."
Cavendish, who turns 39 in May, has battled illness this spring after leaving the UAE Tour with a fever.
He most recently raced at Milano-Torino two weeks ago and is set to return to the peloton for Scheldeprijs (April 3), a race he's won three times in the past, as he ramps up for a second Tour de France participation with his current squad, Astana Qazaqstan.
