MARK Cavendish has pledged he will be fighting fit and ready for the Tour de France at the beginning of July, despite media criticism of his performance in the Tour of Switzerland.
The press has focused on the Manx rider for many years, ever since he shot to fame as the world’s best sprinter, claiming 15 Tour de France stage wins in the process, including two fantastic and unforgettable wins on the final stage in Paris.
Cavendish admits that he used to take the press insults personally and knows that some of his previous abrupt responses have not done him any favours.
But, today, he toys with the journalists at press conferences and has shown plenty of Manx humour in his responses to the obligatory inflammatory questions from newspaper, TV and radio reporters.
With very few characters currently in the sport of professional cycling, Cavendish finds himself the constant target of media speculation, criticism and typical tabloid lies and manipulation of the truth.
His best answer, however, has always been to come up with the goods in the sprint finishes, most notably in the Tour de France in a country where he is considered something of a national hero, despite being Manx. The French, apparently, like the fact that he comes from the Isle of Man and not England!
So, when the press launched their latest attack at the weekend on the 26 year old HTC Highroad rider for not seriously contesting any of the three sprint stages in the 9-day Tour of Switzerland, Cavendish’s management team responded with some straight-talking words.
“Mark rises to the occasion and obviously for a rider like him who i expected to perform all year round it’s difficult for him to live up to those expectations all the time,” said racing director for HTC Allan Peiper.
“The most important race for him is the Tour de France, as it is for the rest of the team . . . at this point, he looks really good; as good as I've seen him this year and probably better than he's been in the last years going in to the Tour."
The Tour de France begins on July 2nd and finishes on the Champs Elysees on July 24th where Cavendish has claimed two successive victories watched live on television by millions.
This year, the French organisers have theoretically boosted Cavendish's hopes of winning the coveted green jersey by tweaking the rules concerning the intermediate sprints where points can be won.
But overall there could be fewer stage opportunities for Cav. From the race's 21 stages only six - stages 3, 5, 7, 11, 15 and 21 - finish on the flat terrain favoured by Cavendish and his formidable lead-out train. Other so-called “sprinter’s stages” end on an uphill finish.
