“I hope everyone enjoyed that.”

Mark Cavendish’s sign off during his Eurosport interview was telling. Was he talking about the race he’d just won, or reflecting on his career as a whole?

We certainly enjoyed the race. While the Singapore Criterium is not the most historic or prestigious, it attracted a field of top riders. In winning the race, Cavendish beat Jasper Philipsen, Arnaud De Lie, and Biniam Girmay. Girmay is the most recent winner of the Tour de France’s green jersey, typically won by the world’s best sprinter – Cavendish himself topped that standing in 2011. Philipsen won the jersey in 2023. De Lie may well win it next year.

After a series of left handers which were approached cautiously – nobody wanting to pick up an injury before the off-season – Philipsen was first to set off for the line. Cavendish, having initially taken Girmay’s wheel, made the decision to switch to Philipsen. He darted to his left to follow the Belgian, but soon realised he was faster and swept past through the centre. De Lie followed Cavendish but wasn’t able to bridge the gap before reaching the line. Cavendish crossed the line – arms aloft – just as he had done so many times throughout his illustrious career.

Having once again demonstrated his ability to compete with the very best, one must wonder whether there’s a small part of Cavendish that could be tempted by another tilt at the Tour. There was a finality about this event though.

At one point during the last 10km, grand tour veterans Chris Froome and Vincenzo Nibali were off the front. Thomas De Gendt, an ever-present figure in pelotons throughout Cavendish’s career, was also competing in his last race. The feeling of nostalgia was unavoidable. 

I was left to reflect on Cavendish’s career and the moments he had given us. Here are my top 5:

5. Cavendish wins his last race in Singapore

Like a good author, Cavendish has a habit of producing a satisfying ending. All of the protagonist’s goals have been achieved and all of the loose ends tied up. Delightful.

4. Cavendish wins on the Champs-Élysées with Renshaw second

At the 2009 Tour, Team Columbia-High Road prepared their squad for the Tour de France with the sole aim of winning as many stages as possible. Having the fastest man in the world clearly helps in that endeavour, but getting him in the right place is another. Australian Mark Renshaw quickly became known as the best lead-out man in the business, leading Cavendish through the final metres before launching the missile. After a gruelling Tour, Renshaw and Cavendish set off down the Champs-Élysées in pursuit of their sixth stage win. As it turned out, they were so superior to the other teams that Cavendish won by a huge margin and Renshaw himself was able to come home second. A hair-raising achievement and a sponsor’s dream.

3. Geraint Thomas leads Cavendish to victory in Rome

In 2023, Cavendish lined up in the Giro d’Italia hoping to add to his grand tour legacy. But the Giro became a frustrating one; Cavendish failed to win any of the first 20 stages. On stage 21, Cavendish found himself at risk of being boxed in with 2km, only to find a rider from another team waving him onto his wheel. It was his old mate G of course, who had seen his general classification hopes come to an end on the previous day. Thomas, wearing INEOS colours, dragged Cavendish clear of the pack and left him to power home with 800m to go. What a beautiful sport.

2. The Yellow Jersey leads Cav to the line

In 2012 Cavendish joined the all-conquering Team Sky team in the hopes of bringing Tour de France success home to the United Kingdom. As events unfolded, though, Cavendish found that the team’s goals were somewhat at odds with his own. The team were protecting Wiggins’ maillot jaune from a long way out, leaving Cavendish to fend for himself. Despite the lack of support, Cavendish picked up 2 of the first 20 stages. On stage 21 Wiggins made the unprecedented move to the front of the field, using his time trial pedigree to lead the Sky train to the front of the field and set the platform for a third stage victory. It underlined the team’s dominance and announced to the French that the British were now taking the Tour de France very seriously.

1. Number 35

In 2023, Cavendish had fallen just short of a historic 35th stage victory at the Tour de France with a frustration second place finish on stage 7. On stage 8, he crashed out, leaving his dreams and his lycra in tatters. We were left wondering whether we would ever see him on a bike again. Of course we would. Cavendish returned in 2024 with that fire in his belly, determined to take the record outright from Belgian legend Eddy Merckx. The moment we’d all been waiting so long for came on stage 5, Cavendish – now wearing the colours of Astana-Qazaqstan – surged clear of the pack with the leg speed of a much younger man. Cameraman rejoiced as they captured the groundbreaking moment. History had been made.

Cavendish explained in his interview that he loved cycling - the sport, the pastime, the mode of transport. We knew that already. He has been a wonderful ambassador for the sport at a time when cycling’s popularity exploded in the United Kingdom. Since 2008, five Britons have won a total of eleven grand tours, Team GB have won countless Olympic medals, and a 2021 study by the Department for Transport indicated that participation in cycling had increased by 63% in eight years. Cavendish can be confident that he leaves the sport in much better shape than he found it.

So vast are Cavendish’s achievements that we haven’t mentioned his 2011 World Championship on the road, or his 3 world titles on the track. But in some ways, that’s fitting, because for Mark it was mostly about the Tour. I say mostly because I suspect that if Cavendish were to cite one regret, it would be the 2012 Olympic road race, in which he came 29th having publicly stated his desire for home victory. That race was won by Alexandre Vinokourov, whose son Nicolas was a teammate of Cavendish’s yesterday. A fitting end, perhaps.

Cavendish must rank extremely high on a list of British sporting greats. His tenacity and desire to win are unmatched. So many had written him off after struggles with illnesses and injuries, but he showed extraordinary self-belief to – forgive me – get back on the bike and continue to compete at the top level. 

Mark, we certainly enjoyed it all, thank you.

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By Leon Parrott