Mark Cavendish, a greeting and a regret

Mark Cavendish leaves Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl with a second-place sprint

Half smiles, Mark Cavendish, at the end of his last race in Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl: the Isle of Man sprinter in fact finished second in the final sprint of the Van Steenbergen Memorial, beaten by a whisker by Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Deceuninck).

“I’m disappointed because I didn’t win my last race in Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl,” the ‘Manx Missile’ told the team’s channels, “but I’m proud of my teammates and how we approached the race. They proved to be strong, committed and pulled the sprint for me in the best way possible. I wanted to win for them as well, but it was not possible.” Cavendish will now take center stage in the cyclomarket, having confirmed that he wants to continue racing in 2023.

In contrast, the race in memory of the Belgian road and track racing legend saw a permanent retirement from racing by another Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl rider, Iljo Keisse. The 40-year-old from Ghent also boasts a stage win in the Giro on his palmarès, achieved in 2015 in the final stage of the Corsa rosa won by Alberto Contador ahead of Fabio Aru.