In November of 2021, Cavendish was recovering from his horrific crash at the Ghent Six-day in Essex when four masked thieves showed up in the early morning. During the incident, the intruders threatened to stab the Manx Missile.
They would ultimately steal two Richard Mille watches—worth around 1 million Canadian dollars, as well as a cell phone and Louis Vuitton suitcase.
Still haunts him
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, he said that the terrifying incident still haunts him to this day.
“I get flashbacks all the time. To have a zombie knife held up to your throat in front of your kid?”
Cavendish said it was horrific. “You think about what you could have done differently. Everyone thinks, ‘I’d fight.’ And of course, I was swinging at first,” he said. (A zombie knife is a large, serrated weapon often associated with violent crime. It was inspired by weapons use in zombie movies. Go figure.)
He did say that he was happier he was there and that he never would have forgiven himself if it had happened just to his wife, Peta, and children.
“But I tell you, anybody who gets a knife held to their neck, you can’t do anything. Like, my wife’s there, my kid,” he said. “I was helpless to do anything.”
Technically, Cavendish is still tied with Merckx for stage wins
The robbers knew what they were going for—they’d seen him wearing the luxury watch that had been on loan for an award ceremony.
The 2024 Tour de France
In 2022, Cavendish had hoped to race the Tour de France to try and break the all-time stage record he’d held with Eddy Merckx. Ultimately, his Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team did not select him for the Tour.
He then signed with the B&B Hotels team for 2023, but the French team was plagued with financial problems and folded. In 2023, he ended up riding for Astana but would crash out of the Tour early. He had planned on retiring at the end of 2023 but famously reversed the decision to do one last Tour in 2024.
After struggling in the heat during the first few days of the Tour, he finally broke the record on Stage 5, creating an indelible moment for the sport and showcasing his perseverance in the face of everything he had endured.
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