Mark Cavendish cut a very emotional figure at the end of Gent Wevelgem when he was overcome and made reference to it being "perhaps the last race of my career".
The Manx rider - one of cycling's legends with 30 Tour de France stage wins - has struggled in recent years as he was hit by illness and found it hard to regain his past form.
At the end of the race in Belgium today, after finishing in 74th, he stopped briefly in the mixed zone - where journalists can interview riders - and paused to speak to Belgian media outlet Sporza.
Cavendish was clearly very emotional before he even tried to respond to questions and when he was asked about why he was so upset he said: “That’s perhaps the last race of my career that, I’m a bit…"
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When the journalist asked him if that was really the case, Cavendish said "maybe, yeah".
However, only in recent days Bahrain McLaren team boss Rod Ellingworth said he was still talking with Cavendish about remaining with the team next year, adding he believed the former world champion would continue his career into 2021.
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The 35-year-old British rider is also on the start list for Scheldeprijs next Wednesday, a race he has won three times in his career; the last time in 2011.
The last phase of Cavendish's career has been largely wiped out by Epstein-Barr virus and he is currently riding on a one-year contract with his team.
His last victory came 2½ years ago at Dubai Tour; a very long winless period for a man who has been so prolific through his career.
As well as taking 30 Tour de France stages he has also claimed 15 stages at the Giro d'Italia, been world champion, won Milan Sanremo, taken three stages at the Vuelta, 10 stages at the Tour of California and the GC at Dubai Tour and twice at the Tour of Qatar, among many other victories.
He came through the Team GB development set-up and started his pro career on the road with Continental-level Team Sparkasse back in 2005. The following year he got a trial with T-Mobile Team and has ridden at the highest level since then.
He took his first Grand Tour stage win at the Tour de France in 2008 and though he withdrew from the race after 14 stages he had already taken four victories on the race. Cavendish has also been world champion three times on the track, in the madison.
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