Up and coming Manxman Mark Cavendish has his eye on adding the British Elite Men's Road Champion title to his palmarès when he contests the Yorkshire race in July. The T-Mobile rider has put the peloton on notice in his debut year as a professional, with victories in the Scheldeprijs Vlaaderen and stages three and six of the 4 Days of Dunkirk earning the youngster his first ProTour race start at this month's Vuelta a Catalunya.
"The nationals are a big goal for me," Cavendish told his team's website, www.t-mobile-team.com. "I like the course and it's a nice race to end the first half of the season. Myself and Roger [Hammond] will travel over for that, so we'll take it from there. Allan Peiper will be coming over as well with a team car, so we will have good support."
One of Cavendish's biggest threats at the British titles will undoubtedly come from close to home in Hammond. The T-Mobile strongman is already a multiple time national champion and will put up stiff competition for the 21 year-old.