Mark Cavendish, the greatest sprinter in cycling history, has been knighted and will be aiming for his 35th Tour de France stage win as Sir Mark Cavendish later this year.

Cavendish was knighted as part of the 2024 King's Birthday Honors in recognition of his significant contributions to cycling, charity work, and his role as a sports ambassador for the Isle of Man and Great Britain.

Since stepping into the spotlight in the late 2000s, the Manxman has become an iconic figure in British sports and has built a legend as one of the most charismatic and engaging figures in the sporting world.

Cavendish's longevity has crossed over his career with Lance Armstrong, Chris Froome, and now Taddei Pogachar, and he has maintained a high level of performance over the years.

From the 2007 Scheldepri to this year's Tour de Hongri, he has surpassed Mario Cipollini as the most successful sprinter in history.

"Sir Mark is a phenomenal athlete, a role model and ambassador for both his sport and the Isle of Man. He has been performing at the highest level for over a decade and his "Never Say Die" attitude is truly an inspiration to us all"

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Cavendish became the superstar he is today because those who mentored him as a boy recognized the same drive and ambition to succeed that inspired him in his first race at the Isle of Man National Sports Centre.

"When I coached Mark as a boy, I never doubted that he was going to go on to do great things. He was so passionate and driven. He would go around the course and study the best methods and research the latest gadgets for success," said Dot Tilbury, Cavendish's first coach.

"He would regularly return to the island to go cycling with the kids. Whenever they come, it's always a big deal."

"Everyone on the Isle of Man, from young children to grandmothers, is very proud of what he has accomplished. He has made many children believe that you don't have to be from a big city to go for what you want in life."

Throughout his illustrious career, the 39-year-old Cavendish has always known he would succeed, backing up his arrogance with every test with an interview at his first Tour de France that did not end in success.

He racked up 34 wins in his biggest races, admitting many times that one win was enough. But in 2007, when he was about to start his run as a bullish 22-year-old in the T-Mobile team, a crash and tears at the British Grand Prix and abandonment in the Alps awaited him.

Despite his rivalry with Andre Greipel and Marcel Kittel, it was the era of Mark Cavendish rather than that of the new sprinters.

Cavendish gave the same blessing three years later in 2011 when he returned to Chateauroux in central France, and again some 13 years later at the 2021 Tour.

And it was this 2021 event, which became synonymous with him, that was his best race, finding his way back to the absolute pinnacle of the sport and winning four more Grand Tours after five long years without an arm in the Tour.

In fact, from 2016 to 2021, his personal and professional life was in a state of depression due to the Epstein-Barr virus and a break due to clinical depression. Thankfully, he sought professional help from his former team doctor, and with the support of his family, he began to take a brighter path in his mental health.

In 2020, when, in a post-race interview with Sporza at Gent-Wevelgem, the then Bahrain McLaren rider burst into tears and said that it was probably the last race of his career, fans thought they had seen the last of Cavendish, as things It got worse.

But then came the homecoming. First, he returned to Patrick Lefebvre's Detuninck-Quick Step, a team that won 43 races between 2013 and 2015, before moving to the Belgian team's Tour team. He was brought in to replace Sam Bennett, and took his first professional win in three seasons at the Tour of Turkey.

At this point, Cavendish had the second most Tour stage wins of all time, behind Eddy Merckx, and had established himself as a legend and perhaps the greatest sprinter of all time.

He had not competed in the Tour since 2018, when his best result was eighth and he finished outside the time limit, not to mention where he was the season before that, but returning to the Tour was a victory in itself. Not to mention the fact that he won another stage.

Fougères, Châteauroux, Valence, and Carcassonne; four known and new venues, but the result was all the same. Cavendish regained victory, tying Eddy Merckx's record of 34 stage wins.

Although he is a bona fide Tour legend, Cavendish's success continued beyond July, and in 2009 he chased down Heinrich Haussler in Milan-San Remo to become the first Briton to win La Classissima since Tom Simpson in 1964.

Cavendish also dominated the Tour sprint in 2011, when HTC-Highroad was at its best, taking five stage wins and the green jersey. Tony Martin, Bernie Eisel, and Mark Renshaw were part of the key team that launched the Manx Missile.

In 2012, Cavendish, carrying the rainbow jersey, made the big move to Sky Pro Cycling as the cycling boom in Britain took off.

Along with Bradley Wiggins and others whom Cavendish felt like brothers, he became the first Briton in history to win the Tour de France. As a member of that team, Cavendish said it was his greatest achievement.

Wiggins then created one of the most memorable moments in British cycling history by accelerating down the Rue de Rivoli into uncharted territory for the maillot jaune and being part of Cavendish's lead-out to the Champs-Elysees, the most famous avenue in the world.

On the final day of the Tour, Cavendish helped his fellow cyclists win the stage for the fourth time. Remarkably, as is often the case in Cavendish's career, another British friend of the Manxman's helped Cavendish in a similar fashion 11 years later at the Giro d'Italia.

This time Geraint Thomas gestured his head to Cavendish's last stalled lead-out rider after losing the Giro overall the day before, winning a spectacular sprint win in front of the Colosseum in Rome.

With Cavendish's move to Astana Kazakstan, the two are no longer Sky teammates, nor do they share a career together as British junior riders. The victory was Cavendish's 54th Grand Tour win and would have been his last after he announced his retirement at the Giro that year and crashed out of the Tour that same season.

But Cavendish could not stay away, confident of another win in the Tour and a solo lead over Merckx. Cavendish, returning from a broken collarbone, had a rocky start to the season, but his victory in Hungary seemed to get him back on track.

Whether he achieves his record 35th place or not, it won't really matter, because he will be back in the top ten in the next few races. Sir Mark Cavendish's legend as the greatest sprinter in cycling history was cemented years ago.