Cavendish finally breaks his Olympic duck with silver
Manxman misses gold but insists he is happy
THIS is why Mark Cavendish was so angered at his exclusion from the team pursuit, because there is never any guarantee of the Olympic gold medal he craved in an event as unpredictable as the omnium.
He still took silver, and when an Olympic medal of any colour had eluded the 30-year-old Manxman in an otherwise brilliant career he is sure to be happy with that.
But he proved his potential worth in this event with an individual pursuit time only a second shy of Sir Bradley Wiggins’ then Olympic record and that is sure to remain a source of frustration.
He nevertheless rode well here in Rio, coming off the Tour de France and those four stage wins to prove that he could indeed make a successful transition from road to track in the space of only a few weeks.
After five events that left the British rider sitting in the silver medal position, it all came down to the organised chaos that unfolds over the 160 laps of the omnium points race.
There were moments when it was more rollerball than bike race, with Cavendish flirting dangerously with disqualification with 109 laps remaining when he rode directly into Sanghoon Park and caused an accident that sent the Korean, as well as race leader Elia Viviani, crashing to the floor.
But Viviani recovered to take gold and Cavendish did well to see off the challenge of the defending Olympic champion Lasse Norman Hansen.
Having dropped to bronze behind the Dane, the finest finisher in Tour history regained second spot on the penultimate sprint in yet another demonstration of both his speed and bike skills.
Cavendish said: ‘I would have liked gold but I got my Olympic medal and that’s it, that’s just me. It’s really nice. I’m super happy. It’s a great feeling.’
As for the most decorated couple in British Olympic history, they are far from done. Laura Trott moved a step closer to reducing the gap that has developed between herself and her fiance in the gold-medal count.
Trott will not catch Jason Kenny here in Rio. She is now pursuing her fourth Olympic title in the omnium when him indoors already has a fifth in the bag, with a sixth quite possibly coming in the keirin later today.
But the final day of this phenomenally successful Olympic track campaign for British Cycling will almost certainly end with nine golds for a single household in Stockport — 10 if Kenny can complete a sprint treble.
Judging by the way Trott started the six-event competition yesterday, it is going to take something extraordinary to stop her successfully defending the title she won in London four years ago.
A diminutive but powerful figure, she possesses all the attributes required to be a brilliant omnium rider.
She is an outstanding pursuit rider, as she once again demonstrated as a member of the world record-breaking British quartet. But she is also a top-class racer, opening her defence with a near-perfect performance in the 10km scratch race.
She was unable to prevent Belarusian Tatsiana Sharakova taking victory after gaining a lap on the field. But it was Trott who emerged from the bunch to take second with a long run for home.
A thrilling duel developed in the individual pursuit that followed the scratch race.
Sarah Hammer, a member of the American pursuit team Trott and her colleagues conquered in the Olympic final, was up first, riding strongly to record the fastest time of the night with a 3.26.988 effort that was only four seconds off the mark she set six years ago.
But Trott delivered the perfect response, covering the distance the best part of two seconds quicker than her rival and finishing the second event six points clear.