Sir Mark Cavendish ended his glittering and historic cycling career with victory at the Singapore Criterium on Sunday.

It was a fitting conclusion to what has simply been a staggering career for the Manx Missile, as he crossed the finish line the way he has so many times before - with his arms held up in triumph and his rivals trailing.

On this occasion, Cav beat Jasper Philipsen and this year’s Tour de France green jersey winner Biniam Girmay to the line in front of a large crowd which also included his wife Peta.

Sporting a special custom-made ‘35’ Astana Qazaqstan jersey in recognition of his record-breaking 35 stage wins at the TdF, the Manxman, who only confirmed this would be his last race on Saturday, was given a ‘wheel of honour’ prior to the start of the race and afterwards he admitted to being quite emotional during the event.

‘I realised in the last five laps it was the last 15km of my career. I passed the flamme rouge for the last time in my career and I felt that.

‘I haven't raced really since the Tour de France so I missed that sharpness and, when the guys are here with the lead-out teams, it was always going to be difficult, but you see the amazing job that my team Astana Kazakhstan did leading me out, I had to go.

‘I had to let Jasper (Philipsen) and Biniam (Girmay) in in the final lap, I was nervous about crashing or something if I fight. I really wanted to finish at least my last race.

‘I could feel the lead coming and when I passed Jasper I could feel him speed up, but I really wanted that so bad. I'm so proud to win the Tour de France Prudential Criterium as my last professional race.

‘I love this sport, I've always loved this sport, especially the Tour de France. The Tour de France isn't just a bike race, it's the biggest annual sporting event in the world. It's what children dream of, it's what adults dream of, it's what you pretend to do when you're out training.

‘Cycling's such a form of freedom, it's a way to meet people, it's a way to be alone with your thoughts, it's a way to be however you want to be.

‘It has so much potential as a sport, as a mode of transport, as a pastime, and I truly believe this and I've always believed this and I try and do anything I can to help this move forward.

‘That won't stop, even if I'm not riding a bike anymore. In fact I might be able to put more into that now. I'm really looking forward to what the rest of my career holds, just not on the bike.

‘I couldn't have wished for a better send-off than here. To have my wife and my friends here is brilliant. I'm so emotional, I'm so grateful and I hope everyone enjoyed that.’