Likes the rule change for 2011
Mark Cavendish has won an amazing 15 stages in three Tours de France, but has yet to receive the ultimate sprinter’s award, the green jersey. He came in second in both 2009 and 2010. With the rule change he will put even more focus on it in 2011. The Manxman also reflected on his busy fall with his Vuelta points title, a tiring Worlds and the amazing experience of riding the Commonwealth Games with old friends.
Cavendish is quite clear about his goal for the next Tour de France, telling BBC that had not been relegated in last year’s Tour stage 14 he could have already had a points jersey. “I actually won it in 2009, it was a controversial decision by the judges why I didn’t win it. This year, I just wasn’t consistent enough.”
There is a new rule change around the points classification. The one intermediate sprint remaining in a stage rewards the first 15 riders, with the winner taking 20 points. “Even the organizers were [astonished] – how can you win six stages and not win the points jersey?” Cavendish says. Now he can’t afford to ignore the intermediate sprints anymore. “There are more points at the intermediate sprint, so I have go for them as well – although there is just one per stage.”
After two runner-up spots for the green jersey he is ready to take the title in 2011. “It is a goal since this is the only thing I haven’t done now [at the Tour de France], so I will be focusing on it for every year to come.”
What he hasn’t done yet at the Tour, he achieved at this year’s Vuelta a España, by winning the points jersey. This is a harder fight for the sprinters, as the same amount of points are given to the stage winners (unlike the Tour, which weighs points towards the sprinters by giving out less in the hilly stages). “It was massive for me. I have won a points jersey, but never in a Grand Tour before. Winning a jersey in a Grand Tour for a British rider is pretty remarkable, considering I didn’t even aim for it when I went in. I was just consistently up there. I had an incredible team around me and they were committed to deliver me to that jersey.”
He went straight to Australia in a quest to prove everyone wrong and that he deserved to be named a contender in the Worlds road race. This did not go according to plan, as Cavendish abandoned the race with three laps to go. “It was a hard race and Thor did an incredible race,” Cavendish says. “I had two great teammates who did an incredible job. But as soon as the race started, when we went over Melbourne [Westgate] bridge, my legs felt like…aah. “
Cavendish had time to think about what went wrong. “I just didn’t give myself a chance to recover after the Vuelta. Two Grand Tours take it out of you. Usually you have to back off before a one-day event. I was scared to back off, I didn’t want to lose the form.”
He continued training even after the Spanish Grand Tour. “I flew to Australia the day after the Vuelta and trained 150km, hard, hard, hard.” He acknowledges that the race still would have been very hard. “I don’t say I would have won it, but I didn’t give myself the best preparation for it.”
Despite being tired he still didn’t finish his season, joining the Isle of Man team at the Commonwealth Games. “It was absolutely a great experience for me. I rode with five great guys there. They rode like a professional team and I was incredibly proud to be there. Those are my friends who I grew up training with on the Isle of Man.”
Inevitably, the question about doping came up as well. Cavendish is disappointed that all the media reports focus on cycling alone. “I think cycling still is victimized a hell of a lot.” He is happy though, that the sport takes the controls more seriously than in many other sports. “It is a great thing for me that dopers are getting caught. It shows that they are actively working for a clean sport instead of sweeping it under the carpet and keeping the image of the sport nice.”
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