"I don't think this is an official goodbye yet" - Mark Cavendish hints he's not finished in the peloton just yet

After his record breaking 2024 Tour de France campaign came to an end last week, Mark Cavendish hinted that not only his final Tour but perhaps his whole career had come to an end. Has the Astana Qazaqstan Team sprinter already changed his mind though?

Speaking to VRT ahead of finishing second behind Biniam Girmay at a post-Tour de France criterium in Herantals, Belgium, Cavendish gave hope to the idea that he may yet carry on in the professional peloton for a little while longer. "I think it's very important to be here again," the former world champion and now 35 time Tour de France stage winner began in quotes collected by Sporza. "I always like racing in Belgium, but I haven't really been able to do that this year."

Whilst Cavendish insisted that his Tour de France career is indeed now completely over, the 'Manx Missile' was more coy about whether or not he would return to race again in Belgium by the time he hangs up his cycling shoes for a final time. "Is this my official farewell here? I don't know yet," he admits. "It was my last Tour de France. But it's really nice to be here with my family and I enjoy the atmosphere that is always there in Flanders."

"You never know. I don't think this is an official goodbye yet. I don't know what the future holds," concludes the 39-year-old British sprinting icon. "Now I'm concentrating on the race and in a week I'll go on holiday with my family and I'll have time to think about everything."

As mentioned, Cavendish couldn't back up his heroics from Saint Vulbas in Herentals, being forced to settle for second place behind Green Jersey winner Biniam Girmay. Whilst Girmay and many of the others in the peloton now head to the Olympic Games in Paris, Cavendish will rest up with the family and take time to consider his next steps.