Tag: Mark Cavendish

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2013 Tour of Qatar

2013 Tour of QatarThe 2013 Tour of Qatar starts tomorrow – Sunday February 3 – with six days of action that sees 18 teams and a total of 144 riders line up. Defending champion Tom Boonen, who has won the event an impressive four times, isn’t amongst the starters due to injury, replaced instead by Mark Cavendish making his début for Omega Pharma-QuickStep (just as he did for Team Sky at the start of the 2012 season). Cavendish is one of six British riders taking part, the others being Adam Blythe (BMC Racing), Russell Downing (NetApp-Endura) and the Team Sky trio of Luke Rowe, Ian Stannard and Geraint Thomas. For his part Cavendish will be hoping for better fortune than last year when a heavy crash on the final day’s sprint ended his contention.

 

This year’s Tour of Qatar will total 732.5km of cycling consisting of the following stages:

 

Stage 1 (Feb 3) Katara Cultural Village – Dukhan Beach, 145km

Stage 2 (Feb 4) Al Rufaa Street – Al Rufaa Street, 14km Team Time Trial

Stage 3 (Feb 5) Al Wakra – Mesaieed, 143km

Stage 4 (Feb 6) Camel Race Track – Al Khor Corniche, 160km

Stage 5 (Feb 7) Al Zubara Fort to Madinat Al Shamal, 154km

Stage 6 (Feb 8) Sealine Beach Resort – Doha Corniche, 116km

 

Further details and results on the official website letour.com

 

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New Year, New Jersey for Cav

Mark Cavendish new Omega Pharma Quick-Step jerseyMark Cavendish has taken his first outing in the official Omega Pharma-Quick-Step jersey, with a 90minute spin through the hillsides of Tuscany, where he had spent the closing days of 2012 with family and friends.

 

Speaking afterwards Cav, who joins Omega-Pharma after a season with Team Sky, said, ‘It was a nice ride, and I was enthusiastic about officially wearing my new kit. The heritage of this team is incredible; it’s been around since 2003. I’m proud to wear this jersey that Tom (Boonen) and the other guys on the team have made unique in the group. Now I, too, want to contribute and feel like this jersey I’m wearing is even more my own.’ Cavendish will join his teammates for a training camp in Spain, from January 6 to 13, before commencing the serious business of racing for his new team.

 

Image © TDWSport.com

 

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New Look for Omega Pharma

Omega Pharma Quick-Step new jersey - Mark Cavendish Tour Down UnderOmega Pharma – Quick-Step have unveiled their new-look jersey for the 2013 season, complete with a logo on the chest symbolising their TTT World Championship victory. Team rider and current French Road Racing Champion Sylvain Chavanel describes it as a combination of ‘aggressive’ and ‘classy’, whilst teammate Tony Martin added, ‘In this jersey it’s the details that make the difference. The personalisation with our Twitter account on the back of the jersey is a great idea, as is the personalised label on the back of the collar. When it comes to design and material, our partner Vermarc has really done a great job!’

 

As nice at it is, one person that won’t be wearing it quite as early as had been anticipated is Mark Cavendish who has opted out of season-opener at the Tour Down Under in favour of making his team debut in February at the Tour of Qatar; arguably a solid choice as he managed double-stage victories at this year’s event.

 

Image © TDWsport.com

 

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Cavendish Hits Car

Mark Cavendish car crashLess than two weeks after Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins and Shane Sutton, Head Coach at Team Sky, were both involved in separate accidents on the road, Britain’s Mark Cavendish has also had an altercation with a car. Cavendish, who recently left Sky for Omega Pharma-Quickstep, was training in Italy when a car ahead of the 2011 Road Race Champion hit the brakes without warning. Escaping relatively unscathed, Cavendish tweeted, ‘Went & hit the back of a car that slammed on today in training. Wasn’t ideal. Apart from a bruised arm, I’m relatively ok. If anyone cares.’

 

For his part Wiggins was released from hospital after one night with a broken index finger and fractured ribs, whilst Sutton suffered more serious injuries and continues to recover from bleeding on the brain caused when knocked from his bike on the A6 near Levenshulme in Manchester.

 

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Cavendish Makes His Move

mark cavendishAfter months of speculation about his future Mark Cavendish has announced he is to leave Team Sky for Omega Pharma-QuickStep. Cavendish first made public his desire for an amicable split from the British team back in September after a frustrating year in which he has largely played a supporting role to Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins. In an official statement Sky’s Team Principle Dave Brailsford said, ‘Mark has been a true champion for Team Sky this year. It’s been an honour having the rainbow jersey in this team and great to work so closely with a rider I’ve known since he was a junior… Cav won 15 races with us, including his first stage race, three Tour stages, and the fourth win in his unbeaten run on the Champs Elysees.’ Brailsford concluded: ‘We all wish Mark the very best with his future ambitions in a new team and as British rider.’

 

His move to the Belgian team, in part facilitated by the enforced departure of Levi Leipheimer after his implication in the Armstrong doping scandal, will see Cavendish reunited with Sporting Director Brian Holm from his days with HTC-Highroad.

 

Officially announcing the news, Quick-Step Team Owner Mr Zdenek Bakala said, ‘Mark is one of the most outstanding riders in cycling, a true star recognized internationally for his unique style and irrefutable athletic skills… His extraordinary sprint have become a cycling ‘must-see’ that can fire up crowds the world over. Cavendish himself added, ‘After a year of being part of the successes at Team Sky I’ve decided to leave to join Omega Pharma-QuickStep Cycling Team to pursue different goals. It’s been an incredibly fun year riding with friends I’ve grown up with but I’m super excited about riding with old friends and team-mates in one of the most successful and established teams in cycling. I believe in the team’s project and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.’

 

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Gilbert: King of the Road

Philippe Gilbert has been crowned World Road Race Champion in the Netherlands after a gruelling 267km that proved far too much for an exhausted Mark Cavendish (the defending champion) who dropped from the race on the third of ten laps that comprised final the 160km. Gilbert produced seemingly endless bursts of speeds that ultimately saw him complete proceedings in a time of 6:10:41; Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen held a close second place on +4” and Spain’s Alejandro Valverde third with +5″.

 

Cavendish’s failure to retain the famous rainbow jersey came as no great surprise; he has already conceded that the undulating (at times positively hilly) course was unlikely to favour his particular talents, telling the BBC ‘I can’t win. I haven’t got a chance, so I will be in a support role for the other guys in the team.’ As good as his word it was in support that he shone today, working hard along with his fellow Brits to push last week’s Tour of Britain winner Jonathan Tiernan-Locke into an impressive 19th place finish. Tour de France first and second placers Wiggins and Froome along with Alex Dowsett failed to go the full distance, with Ian Stannard taking 36th place, Ben Swift 60th, Stephen Cumming 70th and Luke Rowe down in 88th, 5minutes and 46 seconds behind Gilbert.

 

Yesterday’s 128.8km Women’s Road Race was won by the Netherlands’ Marianne Vos in 3:14:29 with Rachel Neylan in second and Elisa Longo Borghini third. With the GB team depleted after Lizzie Armistead’s withdrawal due to illness, Emma Pooley still impressed with a 15th place finish 4minutes, 37seconds off the winner, with Sharon Laws in 39th, Nicole Cooke in 60th, Nikki Harris 66th.Katie Colclough was a DNF.

 

Image © Wouter Roosenboom

 

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GB Announces World Cycling Championships Squads

No great surprise to hear that Mark Cavendish is to defend his titles at the upcoming World Cycling Championships in Limburg, Holland (September 16-23), part of the nine-man Road Race team that is to comprise Tour de France and Olympic Gold Medallist Bradley Wiggins, Steve Cummings, Alex Dowsett, Chris Froome, Luke Rowe, Ian Stannard, Ben Swift and Jonathan Tiernan-Locke. Froome will also represent GB in the Time Trials along with Alex Dowsett, something of a surprise double act which leaves out Geraint Thomas, who failed to make it beyond the long list.

 

The Elite Women’s Road Race squad will be Olympic Silver Medallist Lizzie Armitstead, Emma Pooley, Katie Colclough, Nicole Cooke, Nikki Harris and Sharon Laws, with Pooley also joining Wendy Houvenaghel in the Time Trial.

 

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Cav Takes ToB Lead

The Tour of Britain keeps on getting better for Team Sky’s Mark Cavendish; capitalising on yesterday’s win he took top spot again today on Stage 4 (156km, Carlisle to Blackpool) in a time of 3:51:33, holding off Garmin’s Steele Von Hoff to second and GreenEDGE’s Leigh Howard for third. The victory on this wet and wild stage now means he leads the General Classification with a total time of 17:07:51, knocking Howard back to second. Stage 4 proved to be a near-identical event to Stage 3 with Team Sky dominating and setting Cav up for the perfect sprint finish.

 

With the route often a stone’s throw from Bradley Wiggins home turf, Cavendish confirmed afterwards it had proven an advantage, commenting: ‘Bradley lives not far from Blackpool and the route included a lot of the roads he uses for training. He told us it was very open, and very windy, and he knew the exact place we should go on the attack. It was the perfect call.’