Mark Cavendish in retirement about-turn as his kids talk him into one more Tour de France

Mark Cavendish says his children convinced him to postpone his retirement and race for one more season in 2024.

The 38-year-old, who announced back at the Giro d’Italia in May that this would be his final year, has signed a new one-year contract with his Astana Qazaqstan team.

The decision comes after he crashed out of July’s Tour de France where he had been aiming to break the record of 34 Tour stage wins that he shares with Belgian great Eddy Merckx.

A mechanical fault on the final run into Bordeaux the night before his race-ending crash cost him that chance, and the itch is clearly still there for the Manx rider.

“I was looking forward to not having to get up and train in any weather conditions, not be away from home, and to spend time with the kids,” he explained in an announcement on Astana’s social media channels. “[I knew] I would miss racing but I was happy. I was in a happy place. I knew I could go out on top.

“Obviously it wasn’t the finish I hoped for, crashing at the Tour de France, but it is what it is.”

He added: “We grew incredibly as a team at Astana Qazaqstan – it felt like a real family. So much so, the first thing Vino [Astana general manager Alexander Vinokourov] said when I crashed was, ‘Why don’t you do another year?’

“[I said] ‘No, no’. Coming back, even if it was just a collarbone, but coming back from another injury... I was a little bit like, ‘Pfff...’. I was ready. I was at peace.

“But the more I’ve ridden this summer... I just love riding my bike. I spoke to the kids and said, ‘What should Dad do?’ And they were like, ‘Carry on’. It was a non-question. So here we are. Just one more year, hey?”

Cavendish will make his comeback at the Tour of Turkey, which begins on Sunday. He is expected to ride rather than race, to get some miles back into his legs.