The greatest Tour de France sprinter of all time, Mark Cavendish has decided to go round one more time to try and break Eddie Merx record which he matched two years prior.
Cavendish, 38, was all set for the 2023 Tour de France to be his last having already announced his retirement and was going all in on winning the one stage he needed to take the stage record all for himself. (He currently sits on 34 stage wins)
However on the eighth stage of the race Cavendish was caught up in a crash in the later parts of the stage which would ultimately lead him to abandoning the race and being take to hospital for a broken collarbone.
The cycling world was is mourning at the prospect of one of the greatest riders of all time having career ended in such a terrible way. With one rider from the peleton say “I won’t lie, I cried”
Everyone believed that was it, no announcements were made from either Cavendish himself or his team about a potential return for the Brit. Until on October 4th on the Astana-Qazaqsten twitter they released a video that brought the cycling world back to life.
In the video Cavendish reflects on his career and how he was “looking forward to not having to get up early…and train in every weather condition” and how he was looking forward to spending more time with his kids. He also talked about his abrupt end to his career saying “it is what it is” in response to the crash.
He speaks about his team and how they “felt like a real family
So the first thing Vino [Alexander Vinokourov – Team general Manager] said was ‘Why aren’t you doing another year?'” Cavendish goes on to say he was against coming back especially coming off injury. But after taking time off and “speaking to the kids and saying what should daddy do?
And he said ‘carry on’ it’s no question”
Cavendish closes out the video by saying “just one more year, hey?”, cementing that he will definitely be back at the tour next year and going out as a true champion should.
The big question now is can he pull it off? Cavendish isn’t getting any younger and with competition getting stronger and stronger each year questions will be asked on how the team will lead him to the finish line first and take the record.
