Having dominated the sprint stages of the Tour de France for the past three seasons, the HTC Highroad team has no intention of letting up this year. In fact, with the hunt for a new sponsor an ongoing one, the riders are more motivated than ever. Each of the nine riders selected are determined to underline the strength and cooperation of the squad, ensuring that whenever possible, one of their number is fighting for the win.
Judging by his stats of 15 wins from the past three editions of the race, Mark Cavendish is the most likely of them to succeed. The Manx rider has said he is in his best pre-Tour shape ever, and will line out at the Passage du Gois determined to chase both victories and the green jersey of points leader.
“We have got a great team, we are going to work so well together,” he vowed at Friday’s team press conference. “It is a hard Tour de France, but we have got a great team here and I think the guys could win across pretty much most of the 21 stages.”
The squad features nine very strong riders, including strong all rounders Tony Martin, Peter Velits and Tejay Van Garderen, and Cavendish believes that the mentality in the group is as important as the physical attributes in explaining its success. “We are all pretty much cycling enthusiasts,” he said. “We love to win, to get out to race together, and to try to cross the line first.”
Now 26, he has taken four individual wins this season: he started things moving with victory on stage six of the Tour of Oman, and next threw his arms in the air at the major one day event, Scheldeprijs. The Giro d’Italia brought more success, namely sprint wins on stages ten and twelve, as well as team time trial victory on the opening day.
However team-mate Matt Goss has been more successful in relation to the number of triumphs; the Australian took two stages plus the overall in the Bay Classic Series (non UCI), was first in the Cancer Council Helpline Classic, then landed a stage in the Santos Tour Down Under.
He travelled to the Tour of Oman and picked up stage two there, then continued the good habit in Paris-Nice (stage 3) and the first of the big Classics, Milan-San Remo. More recently he hit the line first on stage eight of the Tour of California, bringing his season tally up to nine.
It’s little wonder that he’s earned a slot a Tour debut, and also little wonder why some believe that he will be more than a support rider for Cavendish in the race. Indeed some have said that he could be more suited to Saturday’s uphill finish; time will tell if he, Cavendish or someone completely different will triumph there.
“Obviously the team success is a big thing…we are going to try and do some good in the first week, ten days,” he said. “We can really achieve a lot of success in that first week and a half. That’s the big goal.
“As regards a personal one, I would love to come away with something more than just finishing the Tour…we’ll see how it goes. This is the one race that I haven’t done. It is great to be here…I am looking forward to having a go tomorrow.”
Eisel and Renshaw in support:
Cavendish and Goss may be the most explosive riders on the team, the habitual winners, but there are several other riders who play a crucial part in their successes. Bernard Eisel will help lead the team’s sprint train towards the line, then Mark Renshaw will take over in the final kilometre. Their job is to contain the other rivals while leading out their riders.
According to Eisel, the order of the train and the identity of the protected sprinter will be decided day by day: “We haven’t spoken about it,” he said in the press conference. “It is obvious for the sprint that we will have Matthew Goss and Cav [to finish things off], and in front of them will be Mark Renshaw, for sure. I will probably be in front of him. I think my job is already to keep him [Cavendish] out of trouble before twenty kilometres to go, just to make sure nothing happens. Even on the stage from kilometre zero.
“It is going to be a tough first week. Everybody is going to be excited, it is the Tour, everybody wants to be at the front. It is always dangerous and I hope I can handle it, not crashing or losing time.
“As regards the first day, a lot of people think it will be a stage for Philippe Gilbert or for Thor. We have got Matthew Goss and Mark. In the end, I think it will come to a bunch sprint, and then I think the team time trial will decide who will wear the yellow jersey in the first week. If we can get it, it doesn’t matter who it is…at least we’ll have the yellow jersey.”
Renshaw echoes this notion that the collective success is the most important thing. “It is the level of the Tour de France. ..we can’t come here with individual goals, we come here with the team goals. In the last two years, we had the best sprinter in the peloton [Cavendish]. I’ll stand by what I said last year and the year before…he is the fastest in the field. It is one hundred percent my goal to work for him and to win stages with the team.”