It has been nine years since Mark Cavendish last won the Giro d'Italia, but somehow, from Brescia to Balatonfured (Lake Balaton), it seems as if little has changed.

He has aged, of course, but somehow his speed has remained the same. In the years since, his epitaph has been rewritten many times, but it has only served to keep the flame burning. Cavendish burns as fiercely as ever.

"I'm getting older, but I'm still me," Cavendish told host broadcaster RAI softly after his stage 3 victory as he waited to get on the podium.

On the shores of Lake Balaton, Cavendish powered through 300 meters from home. But Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) and Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) could not quite catch up.

"I started sprinting earlier than usual, 300 meters from the line.

Cavendish, as is his habit, heaped praise on his teammate, marking the 160th win of his career, but there was perhaps also a subtle warning to Quick-Step Alphavinir, who placed him second on the sprinter depth chart this season, behind Fabio Jacobsen There was also a subtle warning to management.

Quick-Step's outstanding lead-out man, Michal Morkov, has been used primarily for Jacobsen this year, but the Dane was also present at the Giro, and after a long stint with Davide Ballerini and Bert van Lerberghe on the finish straight piloted Cavendish.

"When you have a group of riders like this, it fills you with confidence. I have the best guys around me. I have no excuses," Cavendish said at the post-race press conference. I'm happy to have a full team at the Giro because I haven't had a full team like Fabio's yet this year," Cavendish said at the post-race press conference.

Cavendish's career came to an end in the gloomy, closed-off fall of 2020, when he tearfully hinted at his retirement in the Ghent-Wevelgem mixed zone, which unfolded on an empty, bare road.

His career was gradually fading after years of illness, and when Quick Step director Patrick Lefebvre threw him a lifeline that winter, it felt more like an epilogue than a new beginning.

But when Sam Bennett's knee injury left a position open on Quick-Step's Tour team, Cavendish seized the opportunity and won four races, tying Eddy Merckx's record of 34 wins. Whether Cavendish will get a chance to surpass that record remains to be seen. Jacobsen is expected to compete in the Tour, but nothing has been decided yet.

Cavendish, who is here now, has a chance to add to his 16 stage wins in the Giro. Remarkably, he has yet to lose a Giro sprint in quick-step colors.

At the time, Cavendish was the fastest sprinter in the world; two weeks before his 37th birthday, he would not discuss the exact structure of the 2022 peloton's sprint hierarchy, but he continues to reign supreme over the fast men.

"I know there are some guys out there, but whether they are the strongest and fastest is not necessarily the best. I've never been the strongest or the fastest, but I've won motorcycle races," Cavendish said.

"I think Caleb [Yuan, 8th in the stage] has the fastest legs and I think Fabio is the strongest. The sprint is like chess on wheels. You have to know how to beat the best in the world."

Nine years since the last Giro, Cavendish has clearly not forgotten how to do it.