Mark Cavendish might abandon the Tour de France to ensure his peak form for the home Olympics
It is believed that the UCI World Road Champion Mark Cavendish might skip the Tour de France in order to ensure his best form ahead of the Olympics.
The 26-year-old claimed the green jersey during the last version of the French race and also bagged five stages of the race.
He started riding professionally in 2005 with Team Sparkasse and spent a period of two years with the side.
Mark accepted an offer from the American side, Team HTC-Highroad in 2006 and stayed with the team until 2011.
He filled his bag with a number of victories during the time spent with Team HTC. He secured stages at the Tour of Oman, Giro d’ Italia, Tour de France and Tour of Britain.
Cavendish also succeeded at the Grote Scheldeprijs and the London-Surrey cycle classic but his biggest victory came during the UCI Road Race World Championships.
He overcame Matthew Goss and Andre Greipel to claim the gold medal and became the UCI Road Race World Champion of the 2011 season.
Team HTC-Highroad announced its exit from professional cycling and Mark had to find his new home for the 2012 season. He accepted an offer from the British side and is currently looking good in Team Sky colours.
The Manx professional cyclist has already filled his pockets with a number of victories in the young season.
He claimed two stages at the Tour of Qatar, one stage at the Tirreno-Adriatico and also wore the red jersey during the second and the third stages of the Tirreno-Adriatico in the young season.
Cavendish skipped the French Grand Tour in 2008 as he was building up for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He is currently training with Rod Ellingworth of Team Sky.
Ellingworth told Guardian, “Mark has said he wants to finish the Tour, but if he knows that he can win the Olympics, he will take the final week day by day”.
“If the green jersey comes, it comes. He wants to win stages at the Tour, not have the green jersey as his main objective”.
“There is a chance he could get off in the Tour if he is tired and is digging himself into a hole”, he concluded.
Cavendish has already succeeded at the Olympics test event held last year. His current form is definitely an edge to help him climb the podium in front of the home crowd during the 2012 Olympic Games.
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