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"This could be my last race", Mark Cavendish in Tears

Mark Cavendish breaks down in television interview after Gent-Wevelgem, hinting his career could be at an end this season

35-year-old British Pro Cyclist Mark Cavendish who rides for Bahrain-McLaren, dubbed the "Manx Missile", unusually spent the day in the breakaway in the race won by the Trek-Segafredo rider Mads Pedersen.

Mark Cavendish, who is still without a contract for next season said “That was perhaps the last race of my career,” Cavendish said in tears.

The reporter grabbed a quick interview at he finish of the race said, “Mark Cavendish, I can see that was a really hard day for you.”

Cavendish looked pretty distraught and the reporter said: “You’re getting emotional, how was your day?”

Brushing away tears, Cavendish replied: “That’s perhaps the last race of my career.”

“Do you really think that’s your last race?” the journalist asked.

“Maybe, yeah,” Cavendish responded who rode away.

Three times Track World Champion and one time Road World Champion, Cavendish won 30 stages at the Tour de France, second only to Eddy Merckx, as well as the points competition at all three Grand Tours.

But Injury, and undiagnosed Epstein-Barr virus, have plagued Cavendish's form in recent years.

In 2016, Cavendish sprinted into the Yellow Jersey on Stage 1 Tour de France - one of nine wins that season.

Since then, he has won two stages, the last at the Tour of Dubai in 2018.