Cavendish targets two Yorkshire wins
Mark Cavendish believes he can win two out of four stages at this year’s Tour de Yorkshire, which begins in Beverley today.
The Manxman, 32, has suffered dreadful luck this year, having been caught up in crashes at the Tour of Dubai, Tirreno-adriatico and the Milan-sanremo, where he was sent over his handlebars and had to miss the Commonwealth Games with rib and ankle injuries.
Cavendish also crashed at the end of stage one of the 2014 Tour de France in Harrogate, dislocating a shoulder. But this year’s Tour de Yorkshire does not visit the spa town. Instead, it takes in Barnsley, Doncaster, Halifax, Ilkley, Richmond and Scarborough before finishing in Leeds on Sunday.
It is today’s finish in Doncaster and Saturday’s finish in Scarborough which are of most interest to sprinters such as Cavendish.
“There are sprint opportunities on the first day and the third day I will be looking to make the most of,” Cavendish told BBC Radio 4. He will also be trying to help his Dimension Data team-mate, Serge Pauwels, defend his title. “We will look forward to try to defend it as a team with him,” said Cavendish.
“Yorkshire is a hard place to ride a bike. Hopefully, Team Dimension Data can go and be successful over the four days.”
He added: “I am lucky in my career. I have had good luck and I have had bad luck, but I am able to ride my bike again. I am not in top, top condition but I am in good enough condition that I know I can go to some tough terrain around Yorkshire and be competitive.”