Cyclist Mark Cavendish on Coming out of Retirement and His Race Day Superstitions
What makes an Olympic cyclist – widely hailed as the greatest sprinter of all time – return to a sport he’d supposedly retired from?
“My kids were like, 'What do you mean you're not going to be a bike rider?'” explains Mark Cavendish. We were speaking in Paris, where he had been watching (but not competing in) this year’s Olympics.
Last May, the 39-year-old made the announcement that he would be calling it a day on the professional circuit. But after an extension offer from his team Astana-Qazaqstan, the ‘Manx Missile’ got back on the bike. Cavendish won stage five of this year’s Tour De France, his 35th victory in the tournament, and one that makes him the most prolific stage winner in history. (He’d shared the record with Eddy Merckx since 2021)
“The thing about a year is that it's not too long. You can see where you want go, you can see down to the light at the end of the tunnel. And I'm happy I did it.”
He has a few more races to complete this season, and whether or not he returns next year is up for discussion, noting that a family holiday will help him figure out the answer. "When you're relaxed, you make the best decisions on what you're going to do moving forward.”
In light of his record-breaking race that (potentially) could be his last, Esquire asked Cavendish about the pressure to perform, race day superstitions and another love of his: Oakley sunglasses and Richard Mille watches.
Esquire: How did it feel winning stage five of Tour De France?
Mark Cavendish: It was incredible. I retired last year, or I announced my retirement last year. I was going to stop after the Tour De France. But this is how it goes; I was convinced to carry on and get behind the team.
We put everything in for the Tour. Historically, I take a day or two to get into the race, but we just went [for it] in stage five. You have a feeling when you're going to do good.
It's quite nice, because at my age it's ridiculous for a sprinter to be riding still.
You were just saying about your age. Because of your reputation, do you feel like there’s more of a pressure to perform?
You're almost an underdog. It doesn't matter how many times I've won, there’s always a narrative that you've got to win, and it's good when everything goes right for you.
I've never known anything except pressure. For twenty years, I've been expected to be the best every time, so I don't know anything that's not that.
And you can only control what you can control. You can't control what other people expect from you, so you kind of learn to shut that out and just do. And being old, my preparation has to be different. It takes a lot longer to get fitter, you have to keep going throughout the winter so you don't really have an off season.
Do you feel like there is anything else that you’d like to achieve with your career? Any unfinished business to resolve?
I already had the [stage winner] record before I even finished, it was just that I was sharing it. I didn't win an Olympic gold but it doesn't keep me up at night.
A record is not a thing; it’s not a race, it’s just a number, you know? So, the only reason I did this [last Tour] was for a goal. This was the thing that got me out of bed, was doing this one race, it just gives you that reason. That was the goal for this year really.
And I love it. I get to ride my bike for a living, it’s what I’ve been doing since I was a kid. So why not push that for as long as I can. But to be able to push that, you need to win.
Do you have any race day superstitions?
Only one, its not a big one. My first roommate was the son of Eddy Merckx, actually. And he never put his numbers on the day before a race. You get your numbers, and you pin them to your jersey – or stick them nowadays. But he always puts them on the day, and I've been doing that since.
But if I've had a bad run and someone’s been consistently the same, I might start to change that, so I'm not prone to superstition.
Do you do anything to get you into the zone?
If I'm not really feeling something, I might listen to, it's quite cheesy, but old northern house music – something quite bouncy. But I also listen to classical music, I like piano concerto.
That really does the opposite and stops me thinking. I listen to classical quite a bit because I'm always thinking, and that's the only thing that gets me to stop. It's more so that, it's not hyping up, its doing the opposite.
What do you think about when you're choosing what to wear on the bike?
Everything really. I think cycling is this incredible sport that matches innovation and tech with human power. And that goes from the bike, to the helmet, to the clothing and to the eyewear.
Fundamentally, it has to do a job. But I think the nature of what I do is that I want to look good. And actually, looking good isn't aesthetically the best thing. It has to be eye catching, it has to be what other people want to see.
When I was a kid, Oakley was the eyewear. Everyone wanted it. I always wanted a pair of M Frames, they were the eyewear that was used at the time. I was 14 and at the British championships, and I said, ‘If I win, I'm going to spend my prize money on a pair of M Frames,’ and I won! I brought these silver pair and I had them for years until the paint was coming off.
Would you say the M Frame are your all-time favourites?
I don't know if I have a favourite. I've got a big display case in my house with ones I’ve brought, ones I’ve had when I was younger, one's I've got from the company and special ones. It's pretty cool seeing all of them, but I can't really think if I’ve got a favourite actually. The M Frames are iconic, Jawbreakers are iconic, the Kato are iconic.
You were saying that when you’re cycling, you want stuff that stands out. Does that apply for your everyday outfits?
I'm from a small island, we didn't grow up looking at what the latest fashion was. I think earlier in my career, when you start living a life that you didn't really grow up with, you start thinking you have to dress a certain way. And I did that for a bit.
Then as I got older, I dress for comfort. When I drop the kids at school, I'm still the only dad that walks round with joggers on.
Let’s talk about your Richard Mille watches.
Well Richard is a friend of mine. He was at the tour in 2016, and we'd been speaking for a while. Then he came to the Tour and he said I've got something for you. There was a RM11-03 on his wrist, and he said, 'This is for you'. And I was like, 'What do you mean this is for me?'. And then I was riding with it on, and then after that I wore it on the stage, and then afterwards I asked where to send the watch back to. And he said, no keep it.
Did you have an interest in watches before then?
I was always interested in watches and engineering and precision engineering. There's something pretty special about it.
It wasn't a particular watch [that sparked his interest], it was how the movements of a watch created the function of what a watch does. Like the same with a car. When you see an old V8 or an original Mustang, and you open it from the front and you really see it, you see the ingenuity of how that's going to work with its pistons, that's someone's concept. It's beautiful.
A motorbike, if you twist the engine then that's going to affect the bike’s balance and how big you can make it, it's amazing.
With glasses, and the Jawbreaker, where the vents go can change how it fogs up. It's a small thing that no one’s really thought about before, but it’s a piece of engineering that's going to change everything after it.
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