SINGAPORE (AP) — Mark Cavendish, one of the best road sprinters in cycling history, plans to retire on Sunday after competing in the Tour de France criterium.

Cavendish, 39, broke Eddy Merckx’s long-standing record for greatest number of career stage victories in the Tour de France with his 35th victory last July.

“I’m lucky enough to have been doing what I love for 20 years and can now say I’ve achieved everything I could on the bike,” the Isle of Man native wrote on Saturday on Instagram.

“Cycling has given me so much and I love this sport, I have always wanted to make a difference and now I am ready to see what the next chapter has in store for me.”

Nicknamed the “Manx Missile”, Cavendish confirmed that Sunday’s competition will be “the last race of my professional cycling career”.

Cavendish had originally planned to retire after the 2023 season, but changed course and returned in a bid to overtake Merckx for Tour de France stage victories.

He had equaled Merckx’s mark of 34 victories at the 2021 Tour, although unlike the Belgian great, Cavendish never won the overall title.

Cavendish won stages on all three Grand Tours – the others are the Giro d’Italia and the Spanish Vuelta – and became world champion in 2011.

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