Mark Cavendish (38) will end his cycling career after this season

On the second rest day of the Giro d’Italia, Mark Cavendish has announced that he will retire at the end of this season. He is currently still the most successful active cyclist in the cycling peloton with 161 victories, although his main goal is to win a stage in the Tour de France this year. This would bring him to 35 stage victories in the Tour and with that he could also call himself the record holder. The Briton is currently tied with Belgian cycling legend Eddy Merckx.

Cavendish was also often successful in the other Grand Tours. He managed to win a stage of the Giro 16 times and he took the win three times in a stage of the Vuelta. In 2011 he also won the world title on the road in Copenhagen.

“Perfect moment”

“This is the perfect time to say that 2023 is my last season,” Cavendish, 38, said at a press conference surrounded by his family. “Cycling has been my life for more than 25 years. I lived my dream. The bike has given me the opportunity to see the world and meet incredible people.” Cavendish celebrated his 38th birthday yesterday^e birthday and tomorrow he will start the final week of the Tour of Italy.

He would retire at the end of 2020

Cavendish also said at the end of 2020 that he was thinking about stopping, but then rose to great heights in the following year by winning four stages of the Tour. At the beginning of this year he was presented at Astana as “the best sprinter of all time” and he indicated that he was still hungry for victories. “After all these years on the bike, I still enjoy it just as much.”

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