Cavendish in the World Championships
The 2010 UCI Road World Championships will be held in Geelong, Australia from September 29 to October 3. Mark Cavendish, the fastest cyclist in the world, will be making a bid at the Worlds after a record-breaking performance at the Tour de France. The Brit won five stages bring his total sprint stage wins to 15, breaking the previous career record of 12. He finished the Tour runner-up to Alessandro Petacchi and ahead of Thor Hushovd in the green jersey competition for points classification.
Brian Holm, the director of Cavendish’s HTC-Columbia team, has speculated that the sprinter could find an unlikely ally in the form his Norwegian Tour de France opponent Thor Hushovd. With Britain at 14th place in the UCI World Rankings, the nation can only field three contenders, leaving Cavendish with little support on his own team. His favourite lead-out man, Mark Renshaw, who helped through nearly all of his 15 Tour de France stage wins, will be riding for the Australian team. Australia is at 4th in the World Rankings and, like the rest of the top-10, will be allowed to field nine riders at the Worlds, held on its home turf in 2010.
“If Cav is in the bunch, he is going to be one of the fastest finishers. I would probably even look to come off him and maybe make him go a little earlier, rather than him be lead out by myself. There are a whole lot of different tactics you could play. I know him better than anyone else. I definitely know his faults and his strengths.”
Holm has speculated that Cavendish may form an alliance with some of the other top sprinters at the Worlds, naming Hushovd as well as the Brit’s HTC-Columbia teammate, German sprinter Andre Greipel.
“I could easily see him doing something with Norway and Hushovd, who also want a sprint but won’t have a huge team, or with Greipel and Germany,” Holm said. “People have been talking this year about the battle to be the best sprinter in the world, and if they all work together for that, we could have it in Australia.”
The route in Geelong as well as the 2011 Worlds in Copenhagen are well suited to Cavendish, though the 262.7km race in Australia has inspired a divided opinion of whether or not we can expect a bunch finish. Copenhagen might be a safer bet for the Brit, as illustrated by his teammate Hayden Roulston’s Tour of Denmark stage win on the same course of the 2011 race.
Renshaw also won a stage in the Tour of Denmark this year. The Australian has signed on to support Cavendish in the ProTour races for the next two years, but if they meet in Geelong, he has no intention of supporting his opponent.
''At Denmark, it was really good to get a stage win. It's not often I get a chance,'' Renshaw said. ''I can only post so many with my role within the team. Hopefully, they know that I am capable of winning.''
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