Mark Cavendish is only riding the Giro to fine-tune ahead of the Tour and the Olympics, Alberto Contador
One of the most successful stage race cyclist, Alberto Contador has noted that Mark Cavendish is only riding the Giro d’ Italia to fine-tune ahead of the Tour de France and the Olympics.
Contador himself is a huge absentee from the race since the CAS banned him from professional cycling.
However, the former Giro winner has noted that Cavendish will not be able to compete with the cyclists solely targeting the Italian race.
He briefed that a number of new comers joins the Giro every year and there is no match to their sprinting abilities mainly because they are fresh and has nothing to lose in sprints.
“It's true that when Mark Cavendish has such a powerful and dedicated team at his disposal and when he's in top conditions, it's really hard to beat him” Contador explained.
“But you have to consider that in the Giro d'Italia there are the best sprinters in the world, at the maximum of their motivation and a sprint win on the Giro d'Italia is of maximum importance”.
“If Mark is thinking on the Tour and on the Olympics afterwards, as it's the case, I think he will not finish the Giro”.
Cavendish had a terrific past season and secured a number of victories including the biggest victory of his career, the 2011 UCI Road Race World Championships.
Mark started the 2012 season as the Reigning Road World Champion and secured the third and the fifth stages of the Tour of Qatar 2012.
The 26-year-old also finished first at the Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and wore the red jersey during the second and the third stages of the Tirreno-Adriatico.
He rode brilliantly throughout the Italian race and succeeded during the second stage of the race.
Contador noted that Giro d’ Italia is his favourite Grand Tour especially because of the cycling fans at this part of the world.
The Spaniard will mark his return to professional cycling on August 5, 2012 and will be seen in action at the Eneco Tour.
The ban prohibits him from riding the Giro d’ Italia, the Tour de France and the 2012 Olympic Games.
Vuelta a Espana is the only major race of the race that Alberto will ride in the 2012 season.
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