Reflections on a career. Mark Renshaw - Professional Cyclist

Young Athlete Podcast

Mark Renshaw is a retired Australian cyclist who grew up in Bathurst, a regional city in Western NSW.

He rode professionally between 2004 and 2019 for teams including Française des Jeux, Crédit Agricole, HTC–Highroad, Belkin Pro Cycling, Etixx–Quick-Step and Team Dimension Data. His most notable wins are the general classification of the 2011 Tour of Qatar, also the one-day race Clásica de Almería in 2013 but perhaps he is most famous for his 1-2 finish on the final stage of the 2009 Tour de France with his teammate Mark Cavendish.

From 2009 to 2011 and from 2014 until his retirement, Renshaw was known as the main lead-out man for fellow sprinter Mark Cavendish at HTC–Highroad, Etixx–Quick-Step and Team Dimension Data. He is regarded as one of the best lead out men ever in professional cycling,

The role of a lead out rider is to position and deliver the sprinter in the best possible place to win the race, this requires both riders having a lot of faith in each other in the final hectic moments of a bunch sprint.

After many years trying to become a sprinter Mark moved across to become a leading out rider in 2007 with Thor Hushovd at Credit Agricole.

Mark started the Tour de France 10 times during his career, 5 times the Giro D’Italia and 2 times the La Vuelta Espana. His final race was the 2019 edition of the Tour of Britain finishing in Manchester.