Mark Cavendish reiterated his desire to continue his career, telling the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad (opens in new tab) that he wants to continue racing "a few more seasons."

The 30-time Tour de France stage winner suggested in an emotional interview after Ghent-Wevelgem that it could be the last race of his career.

In three of these four races, he was part of the early breakaway and, despite crashing in Wednesday's De Panne, seems to have found renewed enthusiasm.

"This has been the best month of racing in Belgium for a long time," Cavendish said.

"As I learned in the Isle of Man, this is real cycling. I don't have a power meter, but I have a lot of explosiveness. I want to keep doing this for a few more seasons. I wanted to wait for this season to be over first before thinking about the future."

Cavendish had already clarified his comments in Ghent-Wevelgem, explaining that there had been rumors that the remaining races in Belgium would be cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak and the season cut short.

With no team announced for the 2021 season, Cavendish feared that this might be his last race. However, Cavendish, a British sprinter, is motivated to continue his career, and all he has to do is find a team that will make him an offer.

The 35-year-old is arguably the greatest sprinter of all time, but has struggled in recent years due to health issues; in 2019 he was confirmed to be below the threshold for the Epstein-Barr virus, but still has not been able to challenge sprinting as he used to.

"I have no desire to quit," he said last week. I don't want to quit. I love this sport. I've dedicated my life to this sport and I want to keep riding my bike."

Less than two weeks ago, Cavendish's old mentor, Bahrain McLaren boss Rod Ellingworth, said he had not yet decided not to offer him a new contract. Meanwhile, Patrick Lefebvre, manager of Deceuninck-QuickStep, where Cavendish worked from 2013 to 2015, suggested that Cavendish offered his services at a reduced price.

"It's no secret that he wants to come back to our team. Right now my heart says yes, but my head says no."