Mark Cavendish unsatisfied after Commonwealth Games
Mark Cavendish failed to leave his mark on the 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games road race on Sunday and left India unsatisfied. On top of that disappointment, he was already frustrated by HTC-Columbia’s unwillingness to extend his contract past 2011 at
this point and feels that the team doesn’t appreciate the pressures the rider is feeling.
“I’ve got great family, great friends, great team mates. It’s nice. People around me appreciate when it’s like that,” said Cavendish. “I’m not sure if my team does. Not my team as a whole, but the manager. I’ve not been offered a new contract yet - I don’t
know why that is.”
The Isle of Man rider signed a four-year deal with the American team in 2008 which will expire at the end of 2011.
“I’m committed to a contract I signed a few years ago, [but] there’s been no goodwill, no bonuses, nothing. I feel kind of abused for what I’ve achieved.”
The sprinter won a gold medal in the previous edition of the Commonwealth Games in the men’s scratch race in Melbourne in 2006, but he disappointed at the road race this year. He compared the route to the European spring classics, a race style which he has
a poor record in.
"It was like a classic, just wearing down. I'm not used to doing that,” said Cavendish. “My races now, I have to sit in and sprint. I used to like getting stuck in, but with my commitments as a sprinter now, you can't do that. You kind of lose the edge a
bit with doing that. I enjoyed it out there and I gave it everything.”
The road race was filled with endless attacks which wore down the pure sprinters and left more versatile riders out front. Australia’s Allan Davis took the gold, closely followed by Hayden Roulston of New Zealand and David Millar of Scotland. Millar had
supported Cavendish through the race until it became clear the Manxman wasn’t going to be competing for a podium spot.
“He did a great ride and he helped me out a little bit at the end and I'm sorry I didn't have the legs to stay there,” said Cavendish. "It's kind of in your interests [to work together]. It doesn't matter what type of race it is if you've got three teams
with two riders per team then the other people who are single, it's the only way you can stay there. You're better in numbers."
Cavendish went on to correctly predict that Millar would win the gold medal in the men’s time-trial on Wednesday. It was the Scotsman’s third medal in just a couple of weeks, having won the silver medal at the UCI World Time-Trial Championships in Geelong
Australia behind four-time world champion Fabian Cancellara. Now the three-time medallist is on his was to yet another race against the clock, the Chrono des Nations on Sunday in Les Herbiers, France.
"The Vuelta has given me the right condition for time trials and I'm determined to try and win the Chrono des Nations," said Millar. "It's a prestigious race."
The 2009 Chrono was won by Alexandre Vinokourov, who will miss the event this year while he competes with Astana in the Chinese Tour of Hainan. Millar will race as the favourite but will be facing stiff competition from Edvald Boasson Hagen, Marco Pinotti
and Olympic silver medalist Gustav Larsson, who are three of the 12 national time-trial champions competing in the race. The runner-up to Millar’s gold medal in Wednesday time-trial will be racing as the favourite in the Under-23 category of the Chrono des
Nations.
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