Cavendish hopes to make his mark again
MARK CAVENDISH hopes to bounce back from his Harrogate horror last year by returning to winning ways at the Tour de France.
The 30-year-old Manxman has 25 stage wins to his name as he begins his ninth Tour today but failed to add to the total in 2014 after crashing out on the first stage between Leeds and his mother’s home town of Harrogate.
“I was in incredible form and to sit at home and watch the race wasn’t easy,” Cavendish said.“We’ve looked at trying to come into the Tour de France in the same form I was in last year. I knew if I could do the same kind of lead-up to this year’s Tour then I’d be in similar condition.”
Cavendish is out of contract with Etixx-QuickStep at the end of the year and the Tour could be pivotal in determining what the future holds.
His hopes of adding to his tally improved when Marcel Kittel, whose win in Harrogate was one of eight stage successes in the last two years, was not selected by his Giant-Alpecin team following an illness-plagued season.
Only Eddy Merckx, with 34, and Bernard Hinault, with 28, are ahead of Cavendish in the rankings of Tour stage wins. Cavendish won four in 2008, six in 2009, five in 2010 and 2011 and three and two in 2012 and 2013, respectively, and might expect to climb above Hinault, a five-time Tour winner.
“I’d like to add more than one stage,” Cavendish added.
Last year’s overall winner, Vincenzo Nibali, meanwhile, insisted he is in good shape to defend his title despite having endured a stressful season.
His Astana team faced the possibility of being stripped of their World Tour licence following positive dope tests, learning only in late April that they had retained their elite status.
The Italian said: “I had a difficult spring with no victories because I wasn’t in good enough shape. As the defending Tour de France champion it wasn’t a good way to start the season.
“But I’m pretty much in the same form as last year now. I know there is a lot of expectation but there are other riders in contention who have won more than me this year, like Froome, who won the Dauphine, and Contador.”