RIDE OF CHAMPIONS

“When we were out riding, we bumped into Cadel Evans. He’s working with BMC, who have made us some fast bikes. Ed was going to interview me at the coffee stop about riding, rather than racing, and I invited Cadel to join us. MC ”

What do you like about riding your bike?

Mark Cavendish: I think it’s the freedom. You’re free to go out where you want, when you want, from your front door, with who you want, at the speed you want, for as far as you want and for as long as you want.

Cadel Evans: Is there anything different about when you rode your bike when you were five and now?

MC: Not the riding, but everything around it. Have you read André Agassi’s book? He says in it that by the end, he hated tennis. There are times when I think, I’m over this, but it’s not cycling that I’m over. It’s everything around it that comes with being successful. That can get on top of you. But the cycling, when you boil it down…I think if you cut it down, Agassi would still love tennis, but it’s everything around it.

CE: If you took away every expectation around you because of who you are and what you’ve done, do you think you’d enjoy it more?

MC: I’d probably enjoy it more. It would be different, but it’s hard to say.

CE: People always ask if I miss the sport. I kind of miss racing but there were expectations I had to live up to. Do I like riding my bike now? I like riding it more. I don’t have to deliver on expectations. I don’t have a power meter that’s going to be emailed back to my coach saying I’m not doing six point whatever watts per kilo. Cav can’t turn up at a race without everybody knowing he’s won 30 stages of the Tour.

Do you ride a lot, Cadel?

CE: I try to.

MC: Look at him!

CE: I ride just enough to look like I’m fit. I’m not as fit as I look! But I love it. Cav and I are different kinds of riders and we’re quite different in personality as well. But why we started riding was that love of freedom we get. When the time comes for Cav to stop racing, he’ll have a renewed motivation for riding again. It’s why I asked about expectations because if you take that away, it’s only liberating. It’s stress release, because when you race with expectations it can be stressful, but all of a sudden you don’t have to live up to expectations when you are on an average day. You’re not number one in the world every day.

What do you think about when you’re out on a r ide?

MC: I like to go out with other people and I like to talk. When I’m on my own, it

depends on my focus. Especially in the build-up to the Tour de France, it changes my mindset and everything is really only about the efforts. But most of the time, I dunno. Everything. There’s a lot going on. Maybe even, I’m not thinking. There’s so much going on that actually if I can just go out and ride, it gets me away from all that.

Do you ind that as well, Cadel ?

CE: Totally. I tell my girlfriend, “I’m just going out for a therapeutic ride.” I can relate to what Mark said about having so much going on in his life. When you’re a favourite for the Tour de France, for the green jersey or the yellow jersey, pretty much every journalist wants to speak to you. One rider; 1,500 journalists. Riding the Tour de France is not physically or mentally or emotionally easy. We have a lot on our minds and I found during bad moments in the Tour, I would breathe a sigh of relief when the stage started. It’s during the moments of stress that the enjoyment is easy to lose.

How do you re- ind that?

CE: That’s where you need to help people manage the stress. He’s the only guy who can ride, Cav’s the only guy in the team who can win the green jersey, I was the only guy who could go for yellow. We can’t outsource that. But anything that can be outsourced or managed to bring stress levels down… Compared to stresses that I’ve been through in my life the Tour is pretty high up there.

MC: It’s hard for me to do that. I’m more of a control freak. I want to know everything and not outsource it. Then I know if I’ve done everything. I don’t want to have to blame somebody for something I could have controlled. If I do it, it’s my responsibility and I’m accountable if it doesn’t work.

CE: I had to reduce stress. I had somebody to manage my media requests. In the races I had George Hincapie, who looked out for me and I could put complete trust in him and put my Tour de France in his hands. He was so good and experienced.

MC: He’s the best team-mate in history. CE: It meant I wasn’t having to watch everybody, which teams are going where, when there would be crosswinds. I had somebody to do that so mentally I could reduce my stress levels.

MC: You need people who aren’t just riding for a job, but also really riding for each other. You feel it. You can’t explain it, but it’s more than you can visibly see when there is a bond like that.

Do you have a favour i te r ide?

MC: I love going out on the Isle of Man. It’s f*cking hard. It’s windy and rainy. Heavy roads. No flat.

Is that the appeal?

MC: Not in that way where it ‘makes you hard’. It does toughen you up, but that’s not the point. There’s a good group of people there. There’s a meeting point, at 9:15. And you know whatever the weather, whatever the day, Christmas day even, there will be a group of riders there. It could be juniors, vets, women, pros, it doesn’t matter – there’ll be a group. There are a fair few pros there – me, Pete Kennaugh, Stannard is there, Ben Swift, Mark Christian. A good old group and we just go out and race.

CE: That’s the beauty of cycling. It brings together riders who have won the green jersey, Sky pros, vets, women and juniors and they can come and be together. When I was a racer I was concentrated on getting ready for races, but now that I’m stepping further away from the racing, this is where I see the richness of cycling. As a Tour rider, I knew there were people on the side of the road but I never realised just how much fun people are having there. Now I’m very happy to sit on the side of the road in a vineyard drinking champagne and having a picnic with some friends.

MC: I don’t watch much cycling. I’d rather watch the juniors, U23s or women at the Worlds. There are a lot of people I don’t like, and a lot of people who don’t like me in the peloton. I don’t want to watch it. It would be like watching CCTV of your office. With women’s racing it’s more unpredictable. It’s good to watch. Juniors and U23s are the same and I prefer watching that than to be watching, oh, that dickhead winning.

CE: Do you have one race you watch every year, no matter what? There’s one I just have to watch.

MC: Which one?

"We have a lot on our minds. I found during bad moments in the Tour, I would breathe a sigh of relief when the stage started" Cadel Evans

CE: Roubaix. I’ve got to watch it, no matter what. Never rode it, but I love it. MC: You never raced Roubaix? CE: Never.

MC: I finished it, and said, “That is the most f*cking ridiculous thing I have ever done. I’m never doing it again.”

CE: That’s why I love it. I have lots of favourite rides. Because it’s so special to me, the Great Ocean Road, I was attracted to it because it’s beautiful riding. Plus it’s where my race is. The Dolomites are the most scenic and spectacular mountains to ride in. The Swiss Alps are among my favourite climbs. Colorado as well.

Do you look at the scener y when you are r iding?

CE: A lot more now.

MC: You don’t see a lot of it when you are racing. You are aware, but you don’t look at it.

CE: I did the course recon for the Tour and Giro and honestly, I always enjoyed it. You’re in these beautiful mountains and there I could enjoy the scenery and take it in and think about it. That was the therapeutic side. I was still training and doing my job, but I really enjoyed it.

MC: Have you ever been to Isola d’Elba? F*ck, it’s one of the most beautiful rides I’ve ever done. I went there after Sagan crashed me out of the Tour [2017]. It’s not far from my place – you can ride and get the ferry over. Me and Steve Cummings have talked for years about going over with the Lambrettas. It’s f*cking nice. You’ve got coast and quite high mountains. I love islands. I’m an island boy.

When you go out r iding do you set a route or explore?

MC: I hardly ever set a route. If I’m not feeling good I’ll try for a shamrock-shaped route so I’m never too far from the house. But normally I just ad-lib.

CE: When I had specific efforts to do I’d plan around that. But apart from structured training, my route planning was very ad-lib, like Mark. I sometimes look at a map for inspiration but not to plan.

MC: Steve [Cummings] has a weekly plan. He does a different ride or effort every day and he does the same route on each day. We live in the same town but we never train together. Never.

Do you ever not enjoy r iding?

MC: I’d be lying if I said no. There are periods when you don’t enjoy it, but it’s never just been about the riding. I love the riding. I f*cking love it. People sometimes say I’m lucky to do what I do. We’re not f*cking lucky – the amount we give up and the amount of graft we do, people will never understand that. I’m fortunate to do what I love but it’s not luck, what I’ve done.

CE: I don’t ever not enjoy riding, but there were a few moments in my career where I thought, why the hell am I doing this? When it’s snowing, you’re descending the Gavia and your hands are too cold to even pull on the brakes. Do I wake up in the morning and not want to ride? Well, I wake up in the morning and don’t want to put my shorts on, or clean my bike. I don’t want to pack up the bike to go to the airport. But once I’m out, I rarely have a problem.

What ’ s the hardest r ide you’ve done outside a race?

MC: I went to Teide at the end of 2015. I’d done my shoulder at the Tour of Britain and had six or seven weeks out and went over with the national team. That was grim. It’s a good question though, I’ve never been asked that.

CE: I’ve done plenty of hard rides, but it’ll be when I went out somewhere and rode three hours with a hunger flat.

So how are you wor k ing together wi th the team?

MC: Cadel gets it. He gets me. And he’s dead articulate. I’m not the easiest to work with. If you get me, I’m easy to work with. I’m straight up. I’m not going to bullsh*t you and I don’t want you to bullsh*t me. He understands that and we work well together. He understands what I’m saying.

CE: When Cav came out to my race two years ago I got to know him outside the racing. I knew the ‘boy racer’, but we got to hang out together, hung out with Andy Murray. I got to see his origins and saw similarities with my own experiences and career. There were moments in my career where people lost faith in me. I spoke with a team manager on one day in my career where he looked me in the eye and said, “All you need is some people who believe in you.” And I said, “That’s what I want.” That was the day before the 2009 Worlds. As a team and BMC being part of Dimension Data, we want to help in any way we can for him to be back at his best.

What ’ s your job title, Cadel?

CE: I’m global ambassador for BMC. We’re a partner of Dimension Data and within the team I guess it’s some kind of mentor – we’re finalising what it’s going to be. I can step in and say this, this and this and I can see things on a lot of different levels and help. We want Cav as well equipped as he can be. We’ve developed a new aero bike which I think is going to be awesome for him. We can make some tweaks for him and his needs. Little things but they can make a big difference.

MC: I don’t look like a bike rider. Like, Cadel didn’t look like a grand tour winner. He rides differently. I’m not a big strong sprinter. Bikes are designed for power to go down and around, but that’s not how I ride.

CE: The way he sprints, the handlebars we need to make for him will give us a rough ride. We have to reverse the way we’ve designed them because he rides differently.

MC: It’s not bikes that are wrong for me, it’s me who is wrong for bikes.

What are you learning f rom Mark, Cadel?

CE: A lot of things. Primarily, that hunger can get you a long way. We’re different riders – he’s a sprinter and he’s so good at what he does that I will never question him. It’s amazing how many different approaches can result in success. He’s not a normal bike rider. Look at his shoe size, limb length, his height, his build. But look at the results.

And what are you get t ing f rom Cadel, Mark?

MC: We’ve talked a lot about how to manage people. My whole career I’ve been

"Nobody understands the Epstein- Barr virus. I would rather break every bone in my body than have this f*cking virus" Mark Cavendish

a team leader. It’s what I’ve always done. He explains things, how to get the best out of the team. I used to do it but it came naturally to me. He’s been explaining things from a psychological point of view. And Epstein-Barr, we’ve both had that.

CE: It’s what really started the decline of the end of my career. I rode seven months undiagnosed. I was seventh in the 2012 Tour, but only found out two weeks after the London Olympics. I got a call from the doctor and he said, go home and sit on your couch for two months.

You came seventh in the 2012 Tour wi th Epstein- Bar r?

CE: I went there not knowing I had it. There was no hard ride in my career compared to that, trust me.

MC: Nobody understands this virus. I would rather break every bone in my body than have this f*cking virus.

CE: As endurance athletes, or as bike riders, the first thing you learn is that saying you’re tired is the weakest excuse, so don’t make it. And what is the overriding symptom of this virus? You’re tired. Okay, you can’t say that or complain about it. So keep going. You maybe take two days off. But with this, you need two months off.

MC: Your natural reaction when you’re tired is that you train harder because you think you’re not going good. This year,

I was in such good form, but it just looked like I was going sh*t. The mentality is if you don’t feel right, you push yourself harder. Cadel called me last year out of the blue, and said, “Don’t rush it.”

CE: I remember waking up during the worst part of it. I don’t sleep much but I woke up after 10 or 11 hours, looked in the mirror and thought I’d aged 10 years. Four or five coffees for breakfast, I rode three ks down the road. It was early in the season, I saw a patch of grass in the snow and all I wanted to do was lie down and go to sleep there. I still went and did the training, four hours in the mountains.

MC: It’s horrible. You can’t do anything. Walking up the stairs, you have to lay on your bed. You can’t do f*ck all. You can’t spend time with your kids.

CE: It takes a toll on your relationships. You become short-tempered and frustrated. The fatigue was difficult enough, but then you get the team losing faith in you.

MC: It’s because people don’t understand. I apologised to Mark Renshaw because he’s had it. My original thought was, that’s soft, Renshaw. Now I realise most people think like that but I had to apologise. I said, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realise how serious it is.