Last week's route presentation for the 2025 Tour de France was conspicuous for the absence of the riders expected to be the protagonists of the men’s race come July. There was no Tadej Pogačar, defending champion and winner of three of the last five Tours; no Jonas Vingegaard, his eternal rival and winner from the previous two years; and no Remco Evenepoel, the man who completed the podium behind them, and perhaps the only rider with the raw talent to threaten them in the near future.
Instead, the headline attendee was a man who has said he won’t be riding the Tour de France next year — Mark Cavendish. Cavendish has not raced since completing this year’s edition, where he of course made history by winning a 35th career Tour stage to surpass Eddy Merckx as the race’s all-time record holder for most wins at the race. That years-long mission accomplished, a well-earned retirement looms once he has completed two final criteriums later this month, in Japan and Singapore.
Or does it? At the route presentation, Cavendish dropped a potential bombshell. Having previously dismissed the notion that he would return to ride another Tour de France, his answer upon being asked whether we’ll see next year for the Grand Départ in Lille wasn’t quite so categorical: “We’ll see.”
So could Cavendish really continue on for another season? That was hardly a committed statement, but kept the door open for himself. He went on to explain his feeling towards the Tour, how the exhausting effects of riding it leave him feeling done with it upon immediately finishing, yet its addictive qualities ultimately draw him back in. “Like every rider who's ridden the Tour de France and the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, you finish it and think: ‘I'm never doing that again.’ And a couple of days later, you miss it and long for the buzz.”
Mark Cavendish when he won his record-breaking 35th Tour stage win in 2024
Such comments bring to mind another of Britain's greatest athletes, the rower Steve Redgrave. Like Cavendish, Redgrave became one of the all-time greats of his sport partly through longevity, a resilient ability to keep coming back and performing at the highest level deep into a second decade. It seemed Redgrave’s career was over when, immediately after winning a fourth career Olympic gold medal in as many Games at Atlanta 1996, he famously declared that “anybody who sees me in a boat has my permission to shoot me”. Yet he, too, never officially confirmed his retirement, and soon enough he was back training again ahead of the next Games in Sydney four years later. That decision proved justified, as he made it five consecutive Olympics winning a gold medal. Perhaps Cavendish could take inspiration?
Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time Cavendish has reversed retirement plans. In 2023, he was adamant that that was to be his final season racing in the sport, allowing himself one shot at the elusive 35th Tour stage win. When that ended in tears, a crash on stage eight forcing him out the race just when he appeared to be coming into good enough form to take the win, he mulled for a while before announcing in the autumn his intention to continue racing.
Given the sour flavour of that Tour departure, it was hardly a surprise that Cavendish wanted to come back and make a different ending for himself. By contrast, his 2024 send-off was like a fairytale, and could hardly have played out in a more romantic fashion. Initially, it seemed he’d bow out in heartbreak once again, when illness struck on the opening day and he had to call upon all his reserves and resilience merely to stay in the race. Yet days later, the odds stacked against him, he stormed into form, claiming the record-breaking win on stage five at St Vulbas. Having accomplished what he set out to achieve, the Manxman was able to enjoy his swansong Tour with the pressure off, yet also set himself the other challenge of making it all the way to the finish. This, too, he achieved, battling through the mountains and just about avoiding time cuts to earn a celebratory farewell in front of hundreds of adoring, cheering fans in the Nice finale, and special podium presentation at the end.
Given this near-perfect send-off, what incentive could there be for Cavendish to consider coming back for more? In interviews since the Tour, he has described how “life has been great” in his time away from racing, enjoying seeing his family more, travelling, and holidays in which he can genuinely relax. But has he really managed to remove himself from the lure of the sport he has been involved in professionally for almost 20 years, and committed to ever since he was a child?
He’s certainly studied the Tour de France route, observing that, though there perhaps aren't as many clear-cut sprint stages as this year, neither are the mountainous stages quite so arduous. Could it be the thought of ending his career on the Champs-Élysées, where the 2025 Tour will return after missing it last year, that tempts him to ride once more? As the 50th anniversary since the Tour first ended there, it’ll be a historical occasion, and this stage has a particular affinity for Cavendish given he holds the record for most wins here, with four. Cav might have enjoyed one romantic ending already, but perhaps that particular ending is yet more appealing. And if he still believes himself good enough to win more stages at this level, and is still enjoying the sport, then why stop?
