The Manx sprinter responds to his critics as he begins the most ambitious season of his career
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Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data)(Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
Mark Cavendish stands next to his Dimension Data team wearing the red jersey at the Dubai Tour(Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
Mark Cavendish and former teammate Julien Vermote greet each other in Dubai.(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Cavendish wins the 2015 Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne in a sprint finish(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Interviewing Mark Cavendish is never easy after he has lost a race. He is as competitive and aggressive when he sits in a hotel lobby as he is trying to come back up to the front and make the most of another hectic sprint in the Dubai Tour.
Even the suggestion that he somehow ‘lost’ Thursday’s second stage rankles him. In truth, he was unable to produce his best sprint on the edge of the Jumeirah Palm because of a dangerous move by a rider inside the final kilometre and then he was pushed off Andrea Guardini’s wheel by CCC Sprandi rider Grzegorz Stepniak. He gave the Polish rider a head-butt in frustration but could only finish 10th on the stage.
Even Bradley Wiggins suggested that he has put a lot on his plate but admits that perhaps only Cavendish can have a successful season on the track and the road, all while riding for a new team, after two seasons hit by shoulder injuries, transfer talk and a stream of criticism.
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Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.
