Mark Cavendish revealed he almost quit cycling after a “split second decision” left him without that elusive 35th stage win in the Tour de France in 2021.
Widely considered the greatest ever sprinter, the 40 year old was speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival for the release of his new book, ‘Believe’.
In his new book, his third autobiography, he spotlighted the struggles of almost retiring after failing to win the famous Champs-Élysées sprint at the end of the Tour and the resulting media storm after only equalling Eddy Merckx stage tour record, not beating it four years ago.
“Again, I could never have anticipated that night in Paris or even over the next few weeks that this would be the mood music, the soundtrack to the rest of my career,” Cavendish revealed in his 2025 publication.
“A broken record that, every time I heard it, made me wince or bristle. I’m self-critical enough to acknowledge the chip on the shoulder that others have often said is my most potent mental weapon.”
Wout van Aert denies Mark Cavendish the record #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/75gF6qaDSI
— #SiempreGino (@NairoInGreen) July 18, 2021
Nicknamed ‘The Manx Missile’, the former Team Sky rider has won 17 stages at the Giro d’Italia, a World Championship in 2011 and two green Jersey’s (awarded to the best sprinter) at the Tour de France along with the stage win record.
But despite his success he also admits that despite his self belief, he never felt it was reciprocated.
To the extent he was almost without a team before a call from Astana Qazaqstan team owners, Samruk-Kazyna, which saved the day.
“I thought they were just a team full of climbers, so I was quite surprised when I got the call,” he told a sold out Cheltenham Town Hall.
But despite his unexpected saviour and new side, he prides himself on his ability to bring together a team, and in turn improve results.
“I think its more about creating a family than a team.
“You can see what team would be the best as they would stay the longest at dinner, laughing, joking well after dinner had even been eaten,” he highlighted last night.
In cycling team cohesion is more important than other sports, many riders putting in effort for their team to win without any individual credit to them, and Cavendish was aware of that.
“As a sprinter there are probably people who put in more effort than me for me to win, but the pressure you feel on that last riders wheel is still therefore very high.”
A link to purchase the book can be found here.
