Mark Cavendish: “You Cannot Believe How Much Cycling Has Changed Since I Started!”

Mark Cavendish is one of the greatest cyclists to grace this sport, and 2023 was supposed to be his swansong season in the pro peloton. After his crash at the Tour de France, Cav decided to take on one more season in 2024! How much has cycling changed since his first? GCN sit down with him at the UAE Tour!

Welcome 0:00
How does it feel in the Peloton 20 after turning pro? 0:58
How much has cycling changed? 1:22
Is it really the last season? 3:33
Will Cav ride the Giro? 4:44
Any regrets? 5:51
Best lead-out rider Cavendish ever had? 6:56
Biggest rival? 7:52
Best advice Cavendish ever received? 8:51
Did Cav ever imagine returning to the Tour de France? 10:52
What did Sagan say about Cav? 11:57
What does Cav say about Sagan? 13:09
Forgiving Sagan? 13:57

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You cannot imagine how much cycling has changed since I started you can’t dwell on regrets you can only learn from mistakes you did or learn from things you you didn’t do you can’t turn back time can we if I don’t win somebody else won and if somebody else won they

Deserve to win I love this sport I’m more than a bite Rider I’m a fan of it my kids are a fan of it 2023 was supposed to be the final season in the long and illustrious career of Mark Cavendish the greatest printer of all time one last chance to win a

Record-breaking 35th stage win at the tour to France a week in he came agonizingly close but 24 hours later a crash took him out of the race and the Chance was gone however after much deliberation Mark made the decision to continue for one more season and we have

Had the privilege of catching up with him at the UAE tour how do you feel uh after almost 20 years of professional cycling I feel good thank you I feel tired but I think that might just be the age I don’t know whether that’s a cycling or just the age

You know um and five kids but it’s okay I think uh I still love it I’m still lucky to to get to ride my bike is my job you know so how much has cycling changed from your first pro race in 2006 to today you cannot imagine how much

Cycling has changed since I started I think there’s been maybe three four iterations of cycl you know um I think you remember also like it was more closed I think the whole world’s changed with the information and things that are available you know uh you raced

And the race was reported on now it’s everything you do is is like this recycl because of that cycling was it was a closer Community professional cycling everyone knew each other we all knew we had the same kind of job and we were all in together um then obviously the stakes

Became higher um there’s more money involved and that changes everything in life doesn’t it but uh in terms of the sporting side yeah I think those teams came along like Sky came along and instead of it being slow then fast there was two speeds instead slow like there was one

Concept and Tempo and it changed the demographic of riders it was able to ride you know you had to be able to sustain a high Temple the whole day and then uh yeah signs came in and data was able to be analyzed and and Riders were no

Longer kind of picked on if they could win races or not it was on how strong they were you know and it changed a bit then again because there’s only a couple of riders could win races and now everybody is strong you know I know so

Like now there’s rid the Riders who win are Al it’s not just you have to be able to race there’s guys who are strong and can race so it’s kind of Gone full circle it’s just that the level’s gone High because of that now so uh it’s been

Massive I’m I’m lucky that I’ve been able to kind of adapt to that and see it um but uh this world’s apart from when I start that’s for sure are you sure it will be the last one last one year in impr procycling are you sure

100% yeah I’m pretty sure it’s my last year I have to stop at some point um I was pretty sure last year that was my last year obviously things change you don’t know what happens in life um but you definitely have to put a defined T defin lied time frame on you

Know and uh yeah I can’t say for certain anything but I can be pretty sure that um the racing is fine I love racing I carry on racing forever you know it’s that winter putting the winter in I like riding my bike but you can’t just go the

Lifestyle is a problem the lifestyle yeah I’m away from home you can’t go out with your friends and ride you train a lot on your own now and my family’s growing up you know uh I need to start seeing the kids in the sports day I need

To see the players at school I need to give my wife a hand at home you know um you know I got to kind of live a real life at some point so we we see you at the G dalala this year I won’t be the Jer this year and obiously

Have a big goal with the two to FR it’s a very very difficult to to fr friend and as we know the Galia is always difficult um I think I need as much energy as I can um that’s first and foremost but also I’ve had I had some of the best

Days of my Creator jeto and to be able to finish my jro career with a stage win in from the colle Rome like it’s it’s the perfect finish uh I was like I’m incredibly proud that I was able to win win at least one stage of the jro in

Every jro that I did you know and uh it’s kind of a nice run to finish on like that that photo I have that photo I don’t have much at home in terms of my cycling but I have a photo of that win and uh it’s pretty special so do you

Have any regrets a race you you would have like to win um I think I think at some point everybody has regrets but uh you can’t dwell on regrets you can only learn from mistakes you did or learn from things you you didn’t do we can’t turn back time can we

Um I think to specifically point to things not really because if I don’t win somebody else won and if somebody else won they deserve to win you know so that that’s sport that’s siphon um but there’s definitely things I would have done differently in my career I

Think I was too trust in with people I think aside from races um I was TR too trusting with with with people in my career and uh that can cause you some detriment in your life you know and uh so there’s definitely things I would change but you can’t go

Back you’re young you live you learn and you can only do what you can in the future and teach your kids not to do the same thing as well so who is the best lead out man you had um I’ve had some of the best lead up man not just in my

Career but in the history of syon and I’m so lucky for that and I’m so lucky that they haven’t just been teammates they been friends and each one is different to say a best is it’s not fair it’s not right um they’ve all had qualities that set them apart from

Anything else and two of them work together with me now you know with Michael mov and uh Mark rencho they’re both in the team okay Mark’s not riding but what he brings to the team helps not just me not just Michael but helps the whole team you know and

Uh and yeah I don’t know who’s the best or why but I’m very lucky to worked with some of the people I have that’s for sure who is the most difficult rival you have faced Mar K without doubt with the most difficult ride I’ve ever had like he it took

Me at least two years to be able to even beat him he’s just so strong so strong like you can’t figure out a way to beat him I could always try and figure out what other sprinters did and what I had to do to be able to do how they usually

Moved and that with him it took a long time you know um and uh yeah he won some incredible races and he’s a man mountain in super nice guy we have a really good relationship um W was a hard one to beat I was for sure yeah what’s the best piece of

Advice ever given to you Bradley Wiggins tore me out of pursuit taught me how to do a Pursuit and uh without that I’d have never won Olympic medal like I kept hitting the same times before the Rio Olympics and I didn’t do that much track anymore I

Didn’t even that point you know but the individual Pursuit was part of the omnium and Elliot viviani won and I was hitting the same kind of times for a year and it was just in a training session and Bradley who sat down after after an effort and Bradley’s like try

This I’m not going to tell you what it is cuz it was one of his Secrets he said try this and I went up straight away and just smashed the lap times I was doing and uh I think in the pursuit event I got second and those points got me a

Medal at the Olympic Games and uh I think Brad had learned that from Chris bourman and uh it was it was super vital to super super V I’m so happy he’d do that you know from 2017 to 2020 you had a very difficult Seasons would you have

Ever imagined doing a tour to France 2021 at such high level and in all honesty yes I knew I could still ride the tour and ride at a good level I just the hardest thing was not doing it it was getting the opportunity to do it you know

And the hard years in my life I don’t profess to have the hardest years of my life because there’s so many people have harder times than I’ve ever had you know um but uh the hardest points the biggest thing I learned was you can only control what you you can do you know

And decisions or things that other people do they might have an influence on what you can do but uh you can’t change that and if you spend time getting upset and worrying about that that you can’t continue what you can do so just concentrate on what you do and

Uh if you do it enough things will work out you know and and that’s all I could do was concentrate on what I could do train as hard as I could rally a team around me and uh and put myself in the best position to do that and

Uh through circumstances able to go the tour and uh I knew then with my form and the absolutely phenomenal group of boys I had there with me that we be successful do you want to see what Sagan said in January 2021 so at the beginning of the Season 202 for okay Okay so what do you think about Peter I you know we’ve had we had tough times together but we’re actually super close now um that’s incredible that’s a champion talking you know is that’s that’s warned me so much warned my heart man I I never knew that I never knew you did that

Interview I’ve never seen it and oh special blessing going to message him now tell him that’s that’s super nice I’m I’m so happy so happy that I proved him right you know like yeah he’s a um that’s that’s super nice I don’t know what to say on spee just like bless

Him did you did you forgive Peter after the bad crash of 2017 yeah of course like look we move on we grow up you know and uh that’s to forgive us there was always circumstances in there you know um but we have a super good relationship like and that’s really nice you know

Like he was so good for this sport so good for this Sport and uh I love this sport I’m more than a bite Rider I’m a fan of it my kids are a fan of it and uh and what he brought to the sport I can only be grateful for that and

Uh yeah same things of that how is as a person like right he’s a legend that’s super nice thank you m and good luck for your last year as a pro Rider thanks so much thanks huge thanks to mark for his time and candidness in this interview if

You’ve enjoyed it please give this video a big thumbs up we like you will be watching his every move in the buildup to the tour to France