Cycling sprint king Mark Cavendish calls time on career

British cycling great Mark Cavendish has announced that he will retire at the end of the current season.

The Manx Missile, who celebrated his 38th birthday on Sunday, piled up 161 victories on the road to go with world titles on the track over the course of his illustrious career.

But it was the Tour de France where Cavendish wrote his name into the sport's history books by equalling Eddy Merckx's record of 34 stage victories, while his 53 Grand Tour stage victories put him third in the all-time standings.

Cavendish's career achievements also include an omnium silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the 2011 Road World Championships rainbow jersey, the 2009 Milano-San Remo one-day classic, 16 stage wins in the Giro d'Italia and three in the Vuelta a Espana.

“I've absolutely loved racing every kilometre of this race so far, so I feel it's the perfect time to say it's my final Giro d'Italia and 2023 will be my final season as a professional cyclist,” he said during a news conference organised by his Astana-Qazagstan team during's Monday's rest day at the Giro.

“Yesterday I celebrated my 38th birthday. Like many others I've been struggling with sickness during the race as well as the effects of some unfortunate crashes. To get me through, I can't thank this group of friends enough.