Tag: Mark Cavendish

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Armitstead Wins Gent-Wevelgem

Britain continues its rise to (world?) dominance with the news that Lizzie Armitstead has won the Gent-Wevelgem road race on the inaugural women’s staging of the classic, the victory marked her second major win of the year following the tongue-twisting Omloop van het Hageland – Tielt-Winge back at the start of March. The impressive win further strengthens Armitstead’s case for leader of Team GB at the London Olympics, at which she is considered a potential podium finisher, but for which she battles with reigning Olympic champion Nicole Cooke.

 

The men’s edition of the Gent-Wevelgem proved a disappointment for Mark Cavendish who managed only 58th overall position in an event dominated, for the second year, by eventual winner Tom Boonen of Omega Pharma-Quickstep; who helped the Belgium win-total up to an impressive 48 – a full 42 wins ahead of the next nearest country (Italy on a mere 6.)

 

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Four for Cav

Team Sky’s Mark Cavendish yesterday (March 8 ) took his fourth victory of the season with a Stage 2 win at the Tirreno-Adriatico. The San Vincenzo to Indicatore, 230km, route saw Cav clock a time of 6:32:32, beating Óscar Freire (Team Katusha) into second and Garmin-Barracuda’s Tyler Farrar into third place.The win moved him up to fifth overall all three top spots current.y held by GreenEdge riders: Matthew Goss, Stuart O’Grady, Sebastian Langeveld in first, second and third respectively.

 

Speaking afterwards, Cavendish said, ‘It was a difficult day on paper but it wasn’t too fast for the guys so there were a lot of fresh legs and it was important for me to have the team around me, keeping me at the front.’ Team Sky Sports Director, Servais Knaven, added: ‘Everyone is really happy with that. It was an exciting finish and hard to control with some short climbs in the final. There were a few attacks and then the last 3k was descending which meant the pace was really high… It was not easy to be in the right position to make a sprint but the guys worked together perfectly and made a great lead-out for Cav.’

 

The Tirreno-Adriatico continues until March 13.

 

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Cav’s Debut Win for Sky

Just a couple of days after being taken ill on his flight out to Qatar, Marc Cavendish was back on blistering form today taking his first win for his new team, Sky. Making his debut outing in the World Champion’s jersey, Cavendish and team-mates Bernhard Eisel and Juan Antonio Flecha worked their way into a lead group of just over 30 riders when the peloton was split into three by crosswinds with 30 kilometres remaining in the 146.5km stage from Dukhan to Al Gharafa Stadium, but by the uphill finish it had turned into a head to head between the World Champion and race leader Tom Boonen of Omega Pharma-Quick Step. Cav produced his trademark burst of acceleration to land the spoils by just over a bike length from Boonen, with Aidis Kruopis taking third. The victory puts Cavendish third in the overall standings, eight seconds behind Boonen.

 

Speaking afterwards Cavendish said: ‘I’m very happy with that. I’m still not 100-per-cent but we wanted to ride well as a team and if it came down to a sprint then it came down to a sprint. It split up which we weren’t really expecting but the wind picked up and I was looked after by the lads who got me to the front group…It’s incredible to win (with the rainbow jersey). I said I wanted to make the jersey proud. You never really get the season going until you get that first win under your belt. So now it’s there I can hopefully get on a roll now.’

 

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Cav Recovery

Team Sky fans will (probably) be breathing a sigh of relief after something of a roller coaster weekend of news leading up to Mark Cavendish’s début for his new squad at the Tour of Qatar. It was initially reported that he had been taken ill on the flight out to the Middle East state on Friday evening and then that he had sat out Saturday’s training day after consulting with the team medical staff. In an official statement Team Sky’s Race Coach Rod Ellingworth said: ‘Obviously it’s disappointing that Mark has fallen ill the day before his Team Sky debut. He felt fine when he boarded the plane last night but wasn’t 100% when he got off it…He’s really frustrated that he’s come down with this because he’s in great shape condition-wise and was looking to hit the ground running here in Qatar.’

 

Better news greeted fans on Sunday morning (February 5) with a statement from Team Sky’s Sports Director Steven de Jongh saying: ‘We’re all delighted that Mark has been able to battle back from the bug he picked up coming out here and it will be a real boost to the rest of the guys to know that he’ll be starting today. Our medical team have done a fantastic job in looking after him and Mark has followed their advice to the letter. Clearly, he’s not going to be at his best in the next few days but we’re hoping he’ll get stronger with every passing stage… We’ll continue to keep a very close eye on him but hopefully he’s over the worst of it now.’

 

And so it was that Cav took to the Stage 1 route (141.5km, Barzan Towers College of the North Atlantic), understandably sitting back from the sprint but finishing 51st with former world champion Tom Boonen of Omega Pharma-Quick Step taking the win. Bated breath is still required for today (Monday February 6) as he heads out for the 11.3km Sprint Stage…

 

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New Year, New Jersey

Many of us may have had new jumpers for Christmas; Mark Cavendish clearly has some new kit. The World Road Race champion has uploaded the first pictures of himself wearing his new Sky team kit which he is now entitles to sport since his contract with his new team began on January 1. As much as he may be enjoying the new rainbow jersey he won’t be wearing it into battle until the Tour of Qatar (February 5-10); he has elected to skip the Santos Tour Down Under (in which he crashed spectacularly in 2011) but has, via Twitter, set out some clear goals for 2012: “What to do this year?” He tweeted, “Remain the fastest. Become the greatest.”

 

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Cav Backs Millar

Recently crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year, Mark Cavendish, has spoken out about David Millar’s continued life-time Olympic ban, saying that he believes for Team GB to stand a good chance in the 2012 Road Race they need the veteran Scot on board. Speaking on the BBC Cavendish, the 2011 Tour de France green jersey winner and World Road Race champion, put his case bluntly, stating: ‘If we want to win the Olympic road race, we need Dave.’

 

Millar admitted back in 2004 to taking performance-enhancing drugs and served a two-year ban before returning to the sport and becoming an outspoken champion for clean cycling (he now serves on the World Anti-Doping Agency athletes panel) but is still condemned to a lifetime ban under British Olympic Association rules which have been in force since 1992. Britain is the last remaining Olympic committee to enforce such a hard line. There remains considerable disharmony not only between national committees but also the International Olympic Committee (IOC), World Anti-Doping Agency and The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

 

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Cav takes SPOTY

Mark Cavendish, Tour de France green jersey winner and World Road Race champion has been voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year, making him only the third cyclist to win with Tommy Simpson having taken the honour in 1965 and Sir Chris Hoy in 2008. A good year all round for Cav; even aside from the two-wheel success he was awarded an MBE in November (for services to cycling) and won the Sports Journalists’ Association sportsman of the year award in earlier this month.

 

Although Cevendish was considered one of the strongest contenders for the SPOTY ever since the nominations were announced, the utter landslide scale of his victory at last night’s ceremony (Thursday December 22) was almost embarrassing. He walked away with 49.47% of the vote, in contrast to second place Golfer Darren Clarke with just 12.34% and world 5000m champion athlete Mo Farah on 8.71%. All in a victory for cycling as well as for Cavendish.

 

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Wot No Women?

Seriously? Not a single woman has been short-listed for the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year! The nominees, who are drawn up from suggestions submitted by 27 UK media outlets, are – how should Cyclo put it? – somewhat gender biased… No Jessica Varnish or Victoria Pendleton, no Lizzie Armitstead, to name just a couple from the world of cycling that might conceivably been up there with the best. And that’s just cycling – how about the awesome Beth Tweddle if we look to the world of gymnastics or Sarah Stephenson for Judo? Cyclo’s list could go on – certainly, it would seem, far longer than the BBC’s.

 

Blatant sexism aside; the annual SPOTY’s are not a complete washout for cycling as a whole. Lucy Garner, the Junior Road Race World Champion, has been announced as one of the ten short-list candidates for the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year; whilst, as had long been anticipated, Mark Cavendish finds himself up for the main award. Cavendish, winner of both the green sprinters jersey at the TdF and World Road-Race Champion, is already being touted as a favourite and if he wins will be the third cyclist to walk away with the honour following Sir Chris Hoy in 2008 and Tommy Simpson way back in 1965.