Cycling Pro Road & Mtb

Cavendish joins cycling’s elite on way to World’s

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Parent Category: Cycling Pro Road & Mtb

Category: News 2010

Published on Friday, 10 September 2010 10:00

Written by Luca Salvatelli

15-time Tour de France stage winner Mark Cavendish has joined cycling’s elite with a win on stage 12 at the Vuelta a España overnight as he puts together his final preparations for the 2010 UCI Road World Championships in Geelong on Sunday, 3 October.

In other world championships news, reigning world champion Cadel Evans returns to racing this weekend at the Paris-Brussels and GP de Fourmies and national champion Frank Schleck headlines the three-man Luxembourg squad.

Cavendish joins the illustrious group of riders to win a stage at each of the three Grand Tours – the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta España.

The 25-year-old is the second Briton to complete the trio of events after Malcom Elliott in 1989 and joins the likes of Alessandro Petacchi (ITA), Pablo Lastras (ESP), David Zabriskie (USA), Denis Menchov (RUS), Daniele Bennati (ITA) and Australia’s own Simon Gerrans.

"To do at the Vuelta what Malcolm did before is special for me," Cavendish said.

"Everyone knows the passion I have for these races. I used to watch them as a kid. To stand on the podium is pretty special."

In a promising sign for the Australian team, world championships representative Matthew Goss played a significant role in the victory.

"Matt has done an incredible job today," Cavendish said.

"I kind of wanted to give him the stage like I did two years ago at the Giro (to Andre Greipel) because I did nothing for winning today. The team did everything. I was brought to the finish by my team. I'm grateful for that. But I looked behind and other riders were coming across. So I really had to take the win. When I put my hands up, it was for my teammates, not for myself."

Cavendish will use the remainder of the Vuelta to complete his preparations for the world championships. The Britons early status as a genuine contender in the elite men’s road race has suffered a series of setbacks in recent weeks including the qualification of just three riders for the Great Britain team, the withdrawal of national champion Geraint Thomas and recent course evaluations suggesting the circuit will be too tough for pure sprinters.

Meanwhile, reigning world champion Cadel Evans has recovered from the broken elbow he suffered in this year’s Tour de France to return to racing this weekend.

Having pulled out of events in Canada, Evans opted to remain in Europe to finalise his world championships preparations and race at the Paris-Brussels and GP de Fourmies.

"The good thing is that he can extend his elbow completely with no pain," BMC Racing Team Directeur Sportif Lelangue said.

"He will be racing to help the team and regain the conditioning that he is missing."

In other world championship news, Frank Schleck, brother of Tour de France runner up Andy, has been announced as the team captain for Luxembourg at the world championships. Schleck will be joined by Ben Gastauer (AG2R), and Laurent Didier (Saxo Bank).

2004 world champion and seven time road race and time-trial national champion Judith Arndt will lead a strong German women’s line up in Geelong. Arndt will be supported in the road race by Charlotte Becker (Cervelo TestTeam), Sarah Düster (Cervelo TestTeam), Claudia Häusler (Cervelo TestTeam), Luise Keller (HTC-Columbia), Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (HTC-Columbia), and Trixi Worrack (Equipe Noris Cycling).