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Just announced on the Beeb news that Cav will hold a press conference later today.
What a cyclist, what a sportsman, what a personality. He'll be missed in the bunnyhop/nbt household.
I hope he waits until he's had that last crack at the TdF. Need the one more stage win to stand on his own atop that record.
It’s not actually confirmed he’ll retire yet is it? I thought that was still very much the rumour rather than fact.
Fair play, maybe we'd best not write him off quite yet!. Maybe the press conference is to say, 'stop with the rumours of my impending retirement, you gits.' 😁
The rumour yesterday was he'll announce his intention to retire at the end of the season, but will have a crack at that Tour stage record.
He'll be going out at the top, on his terms, as British champion no less.
They need to instigate the 'super sub' like in the IPL. Parachute him in for sprint stages, then put yer feet lad til the next one 😂
Official press release from British Cycling for you:
BRITISH CYCLING PAYS TRIBUTE TO MARK CAVENDISH
British Cycling has paid tribute to ‘Manx missile’ Mark Cavendish MBE, who has today announced his intention to retire from professional cycling at the end of this year, bringing down the curtain on 20 successful years as a member of the pro peloton and Great Britain Cycling Team.
Performance Director Stephen Park CBE said: “On behalf of British Cycling, I would like to congratulate Mark on a truly outstanding career.
“Cav is without doubt the sport’s greatest sprinter and will be remembered by fans across the world for his 53 grand tour stage wins, and I’m sure that we will all be cheering him on as he looks to add to that total in his final months of racing.
“From a Great Britain Cycling Team perspective, we have seen him win rainbow jerseys on both the road and the track, a silver medal at the Rio Olympic Games, and the BBC Sports Personality of the Year title in 2011.
“What most stands out in Cav as a sportsperson is the overwhelming sense of pride he showed each time he pulled on both the Great Britain Cycling Team and British national champion’s jerseys – a quality we want to instil in every single member of our team.
“Professional and passionate, Cav has been a real asset to our team over the years and will be remembered as both a peerless rider and a fantastic teammate with time for everyone. We wish him the very best of luck both for the rest of his final season in the peloton and in the next stage of his career.”
Cavendish joined British Cycling’s Junior Academy programme back in 2003, winning his first world title on the track in the Madison in 2005, partnering with Rob Hayles in the event in LA. He signed for the professional team T-Mobile as a stagiaire in 2006, and in 2008 he really started to make his name by winning two stages of the Giro d’Italia and four at the Tour de France, making him the most successful British grand tour cyclist at the age of just 22.
In the 15 years since, Cavendish has amassed a total of 53 grand tour stage wins, most recently four stages at the 2021 Tour de France and one at the 2022 Giro d’Italia. He now has 34 stage victories at the Tour de France, placing him alongside Eddy Merckx as the Tour’s most prolific stage winner, with opportunities to add to that total in July.
Wearing Great Britain Cycling Team colours, Cavendish’s accomplishments include victory at the Copenhagen UCI Road World Championships in 2011 and the silver medal in Doha in 2016, winning the Madison world title in 2005, 2008 and 2016, and winning the silver medal in the Omnium event at the Rio Olympic Games in 2016.
Cavendish has also twice been crowned British national road race champion, with his second coming last summer in Dumfries and Galloway.
If God is decent, he/she (insert preferred pronoun) will give Cav one more tdf stage win. The man is a L E G E N D!!!!!
If God is decent, he/she (insert preferred pronoun) will give Cav one more tdf stage win. The man is a L E G E N D!!!!!
Yeah but....I think there is something rather nice about him being tied with Merkx. He too was a total legend and to be linked together with him for all of sporting history, no matter who turns up in future generations and maybe surpasses them both feels very fitting.
Regardless - I hope his team and his fitness/health allow him to be entered into the races he wants to be in for the rest of the season. I wonder what comes next for him.
I wonder what comes next for him.
An e-bike?
20 year career? Retiring? What the... I remember watching his first Tour FFS, that surely wasn't that long ago!
Nah, first TdF in 2008.
I wonder what comes next for him.
Hopefully a chat show type tour in a theatre near you.
Yes 'Strictly', 'Get me out of this sticking jungle,' 'Bake off', which all pay well.
My own thoughts are he'll stay in the world of cycling maybe a pundit probably commentating, after one big holiday, but first there are a few more races to ride through. Go Cav.
I'd also like him to move into punditry.
It's not gonna be the money he's used to, but he's always got a hot take and I love hearing him tear a strip off whoever.
He's like Roy Keane but semi-likeable.
And I wonder whether he could be an amazing DS/team manager, he's got a phenomenal cycling brain and he's so passionate and committed.
Yes ‘Strictly’, ‘Get me out of this sticking jungle,’ ‘Bake off’, which all pay well.
I doubt he's short of money, he's probably got more than enough to live off comfortably through his long retirement.
And I wonder whether he could be an amazing DS/team manager, he’s got a phenomenal cycling brain and he’s so passionate and committed.
He'd make a great DS I reckon
He’d make a great DS I reckon
And hopefully they'd put him up for the post-race interviews as well
😀
I'd imagine that he'll be able to earn some decent money as a specialist coaching consultant for sprinters
They had Ed Clancy on R4 this morning talking about Cav's retirement, and Ed said last time they spoke about it 'Cav wanted to run the cycling world' (or words to that effect) - so President of the UCI?