Cycling sprint king Mark Cavendish calls time on career

British rider will have one final chance to beat Eddy Merckx's Tour de France stage-win record at this year's race

Mark Cavendish announced his retirement from professional cycling at a press conference on the rest day of this year's Giro D'Italia on May 22, 2023. EPA

British cycling great Mark Cavendish has announced that he will retire at the end of the current season.

The Manx Missile, who celebrated his 38th birthday on Sunday, piled up 161 victories on the road to go with world titles on the track over the course of his illustrious career.

But it was the Tour de France where Cavendish wrote his name into the sport's history books by equalling Eddy Merckx's record of 34 stage victories, while his 53 Grand Tour stage victories put him third in the all-time standings.

Cavendish's career achievements also include an omnium silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the 2011 Road World Championships rainbow jersey, the 2009 Milano-San Remo one-day classic, 16 stage wins in the Giro d'Italia and three in the Vuelta a Espana.

“I've absolutely loved racing every kilometre of this race so far, so I feel it's the perfect time to say it's my final Giro d'Italia and 2023 will be my final season as a professional cyclist,” he said during a news conference organised by his Astana-Qazagstan team during's Monday's rest day at the Giro.

“Yesterday I celebrated my 38th birthday. Like many others I've been struggling with sickness during the race as well as the effects of some unfortunate crashes. To get me through, I can't thank this group of friends enough.

“Cycling has been my life for over 25 years. I've lived an absolute dream … I love the sport more than you can even imagine and I can't see myself going too far from it, that's for sure.

“It's taught me so much about life, dedication, loyalty, sacrifice and perseverance – all important things to pass on now as a father."

He added: “The bike's given me opportunities to see the world, meet incredible people who are involved and not involved in the sport – a lot of whom I call friends.

“Today it's my son Casper's fifth birthday; it's a rest day and I can spend that with them now. Now it's important to be there for every birthday, every school concert – important I can be there for them.”

Cavendish has suffered his fair share of bad luck, too, crashing heavily during a sprint finish in Harrogate when the Tour de France came to Britain in 2014 and subsequently being ruled out of the rest of the race.

He was also diagnosed with Epstein-Barr Virus in 2017, an infection that causes glandular fever.

Cavendish enjoyed a remarkable return to form in 2021, winning four stages of the Tour de France with the Deceuninck-QuickStep team to match Merckx's record, his first stage wins at the race since 2016.

The 2021 season was to end badly, though, as he punctured a lung and broke ribs after a crash at the Ghent Six Day track event.

He will have one final chance to claim the Tour de France record outright in July when he takes part in the race for the last time.

British Cycling's Performance Director Stephen Park said Cavendish was the sport's greatest sprinter.

“He 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,” Park said.

“What most stands out in Cav as a sportsperson is the overwhelming sense of pride he showed each time he pulled on both the Britain Cycling Team and British national champion's jerseys.”