Mark Cavendish to ride two post-Tour de France criteriums after record-breaking final Tour
Chaam and Heerlen, Netherlands to welcome sprinting legend on July 24 and 26 respectively for exhibition races
![SAINT VULBAS, FRANCE - JULY 03: (EDITOR'S NOTE: Alternate crop) Mark Cavendish of The United Kingdom and Astana Qazaqstan Team celebrates at finish line as stage winner during the 111th Tour de France 2024, Stage 5 a 177.4km stage from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Saint Vulbas / #UCIWT / on July 03, 2024 in Saint Vulbas, France. (Photo by Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/kamWTUUsp9LPDewWbC8fe4-320-80.jpg)
The curtain may have come down on Mark Cavendish’s illustrious career after he rode his last Tour de France stage in Nice on Sunday in what was “likely so” his final race before retirement, however, he should be back racing - albeit not competitively - as soon as this week in two of the ‘post-Tour crits’.
It was a fairytale goodbye for Cavendish in his 15th and final Tour de France, after he broke the stage win record he shared with Eddy Merckx on stage 5 into Saint-Vulbas and survived all the way to finish stage 21, where he had his own podium ceremony to recognise his legendary career.
Set to bring joy to Dutch fans, Cavendish was announced to be starting at the criteriums in Chaam on Wednesday, July 24 and Heerlen on Friday, July 26, by event organisers, who were delighted at his participation.
"This is great for us and for the spectators who will soon come to Heerlen. With special thanks to Jos van de Mortel. Without him, the deal with Cavendish would never have been successful,” revealed organiser Chris Tiekstra, praising Van de Mortel - the owner of team Parkhotel Valkenburg for helping with fees.
“Cavendish won the sprint on July 3 and thus reached a legendary number of 35 Tour victories. But he also won 17 stages in the Giro d'Italia and three in the Tour of Spain. A true cycling great who also competed in Heerlen in 2008.”
He’ll be joined on the start line in Heerlen by Dutch Astana Qazaqstan teammate Cees Bol and breakthrough rider Frank van den Broek, after he netted a famous 1-2 for DSM-Firmenich PostNL on the Tour’s opening stage alongside Romain Bardet.
The criteriums are a long-running tradition in the week following the Tour having gotten started on Monday, the day after the Tour finished, in Boxmeer and Aalst, where stage winners Dylan Groenewegen and Victor Campenaerts repeated their success with ‘wins’.
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They serve as more of an exhibition for the public to enjoy than actual races, far from anything UCI official, with jersey winners from the Tour riding in their famous jerseys and often taking the ‘win’ and a nice appearance fee for taking part.
Post-Tour de France 2024 criteriums
July 22, Boxmeer: 1 Dylan Groenewegen, 2 Mike Teunissen, 3 Wout Poels
July 22, Aalst: 1 Victor Campenaerts, 2 Jasper Philipsen, 3 Biniam Girmay
July 23, Surhuisterveen: 1 Tadej Pogačar, 2 Jasper Philipsen, 3 Wout Poels
July 23, Roeselare: 1 Mathieu van der Poel, 2 Biniam Girmay, 3 Gianni Vermeersch
July 24, Chaam: 1 Mark Cavendish, 2 Biniam Girmay, 3 Olav Kooij
July 25, Wateringen: 1 Jasper Philipsen, 2 Frank van den Broek, 3 Marijn van den Berg
July 25, Herentals: 1 Biniam Girmay, 2 Mark Cavendish, 3 Arnaud De Lie
July 26, Heerlen: 1 Mark Cavendish, 2 Bauke Mollema, 3 Frank van den Broek
July 27, Maarheeze: 1 Mike Teunissen, 2 Cees Bol, 3 Danny van Poppel
July 28, Emmen: 1 Bauke Mollema, 2 Elmar Reinders, 3 Dylan Groenewegen
July 29, Roosendaal: Biniam Girmay, Bauke Mollema, Dylan Groenewegen
![](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/j0riqebpsw1715769462.png)
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James Moultrie is a gold-standard NCTJ journalist who joined Cyclingnews as a News Writer in 2023 after originally contributing as a freelancer for eight months, during which time he also wrote for Eurosport, Rouleur and Cycling Weekly. Prior to joining the team he reported on races such as Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d’Italia Donne for Eurosport and has interviewed some of the sport’s top riders in Chloé Dygert, Lizzie Deignan and Wout van Aert. Outside of cycling, he spends the majority of his time watching other sports – rugby, football, cricket, and American Football to name a few.