Sir Mark Cavendish has received plenty of honours during and after his illustrious career, but admitted the one he received on Friday was particularly special.
The winner of a record 35 Tour de France stages was back home in Douglas on the Isle of Man, where the cycle track at the National Sports Centre where he first started racing as a child was renamed the Sir Mark Cavendish Raceway.
On the track where he used to compete every Tuesday night during his youth, Cavendish, who retired from racing at the end of last season, joined local schoolchildren on a ride as a new podium and signage was unveiled.
“When I was young, I would always be smashing it around that half-mile circuit,” Cavendish told the PA news agency. “It was always fun, it was always something I would look forward to, and it taught me how to race.
“This is where I started, where every Isle of Man rider started racing, so it’s very sentimental. It’s not just like having something named after me – I’m very proud to have it at the place that started and shaped my career. It’s truly an honour, it really means something on a personal level.”
Cavendish used to revel in the weekly races run at the venue by Dot Tilbury, who remains a fixture at the National Sports Centre.
Tilbury helped launch the careers of Cavendish, former Team Sky rider Pete Kennaugh and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Mark Christian, but the sessions she runs have been about more than finding future professionals.
“Cycling is fundamentally built on community and volunteers,” Cavendish said when asked about her contribution. “That’s what I loved about it. That’s what got me started.
“It doesn’t matter where you’re from or what you do, everyone is joined by this single love, which is the bicycle – whether it’s racing, using it for transport or for fitness.
“Historically club racing here in the Isle of Man and the UK in general takes a community who just love it, love seeing the racing and love what the bike is about. Without them these things don’t exist and I think we need to treasure that.”
