Mark Cavendish shocked the cycling world this past season with 17 wins on the road, topping the list of winners for 2009. While the 23-year-old from the Isle of Man eclipsed all of the sprinters on the road, his trip to the Beijing Olympics on the track were a major disappointment.
Cavendish and teammate Bradley Wiggins as reigning World Champions were expected to be a part of the British invasion that took over the Laoshan Velodrome, but instead ended up in ninth place. The sprinter who ruled the roads of the Tour de France just one month earlier ended up the sole Brit without an Olympic medal.
When asked during an interview with Observer Sport Monthly about his future on the track Cavendish said, “No, there’s nothing for me to do there (on the track) now. I wouldn’t gain anything in my career either financially or in terms of being remembered. It would just be a hindrance to what I can gain on the road.”
Still feeling the sting of leaving the Tour de France for his Olympic preparations, the rider is adamant about being a part of Britain’s 2012 Olympic Team to make amends on home turf in London. Only this time around he will be 100% focused on the road.