Cycling Pro Road & Mtb

Cancellara takes off, Cavendish touches down and Italians get toey

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Parent Category: Cycling Pro Road & Mtb

Category: News 2010

Published on Thursday, 23 September 2010 09:50

Written by Luca Salvatelli

Fifteen-time Tour de France stage winner Mark Cavendish arrived in Melbourne last night ahead of his assault on the rainbow jersey at the 2010 UCI Road World Championships which begin on Wednesday in Geelong.

The 25-year-old will take his first ride on the course this morning, and is confident of a strong result despite doubts over the ability of sprinters to handle the tough Geelong circuit.

"Everyone says it’s not really a sprinters course, but it’s a course I can win on. I am not the favourite but it is possible to win," Cavendish said, although he admitted he will have a better idea after his reconnaissance of the course today.

"I am just taking it easy. Recover and rest up. I have come out of the Tour of Spain really strong and now the focus is on Sunday week."

Australia is a happy hunting ground for the sprint king, returning for the first time since the 2007 Track World Cup in Sydney and back to the state of his 2006 Commonwealth Games gold medal victory in the scratch race on the track.

Teammate and former British champion Jeremy Hunt arrived with Cavendish last night. The final member of the Great Britain team, David Millar, missed his plane and is due to arrive tonight.

The British team are considering a ride in the Herald Sun World Cycling Classic Ballarat and will make a final decision later today.

Cancellara air-born

Triple time trial champion Fabian Cancellara confirmed via Twitter he has boarded a flight to Australia ahead of the UCI Road World Championships, despite flagging some doubts on his participation over the weekend.

"Will go to the worlds now. Siting now in a new airbus 360. Crazy big," Cancellara tweeted.

Holding a press conference before he took off last night, the 29-year-old announced he would be again aiming for the double, much like he did in Mendrisio, but was insistent he was only an ‘outsider’ for the road race on Sunday, 3 October.

"When I take the world championships in Mendrisio in 2009 as a comparison, when the situation was similar, I am confident," Cancellara said at the conference.

"I’m on the right track and the legs feel good. I must now just make a click in my head."

Cancellara, who recently brought himself out of his contract with team Saxo Bank, withdrew from the Tour of Spain following a disappointing showing in the final time trial where he finished third behind Slovakian Peter Velits (HTC Columbia) and Russian Denis Menchov (Rabobank).

The two-time Paris-Roubaix winner took some time to recover and reinvigorate with family before making a final commitment to head down under but he made it clear via Twitter he will not make any decisions on his 2011 plans until his rainbow jersey pursuit concludes.

"About 2011 there is nothing official to say about my future. A lot of rumours bin going on. I dont have eny contract signet somewear," Cancellara tweeted.

Bettini puts the pressure on Pozzato and Italian riders to win at all costs

Italian coach Paolo Bettini has spoken about the importance of a rainbow jersey for Italy and his concerns about the current form of nominated team leader Filippo Pozzato as they work to honour the memory of former national coach Franco Ballerini who was tragically killed in a car accident earlier this year.

A former world and Olympic champion, Bettini was concerned about the performance of Pozzato at the recent Tour of Spain where the Italian managed just two top ten stage finishes.

"Pozzato wanted to test himself in the Vuelta on the stage to Toledo, but at 600 metres from the finish line, I had still not seen him in the picture," Bettini said to La Gazzetto dello Sport.

"We want to win at all costs, one of our riders must win," he said. "We need to do this to honor the memory of Franco Ballerini, to whom we dedicate this jersey."

"I don't know if we will win, maybe we will even not win. But we must make that commitment, give that respect and that love for the blue jersey that Franco always sought and obtained. We have to race like Franco would have wanted, that is the only way that we can honour his memory. He would have been here with us, had fate not taken him away. So of course we will race for Franco."

"At the moment, Gilbert really looks like the man to beat, I think we all saw what he did in the Vuelta,” he said. “He twice said he was going for the win and got it both times."

The 2010 UCI Road World Championships will be the biggest cycling event ever seen in Australia. Held from Wednesday 29 September to Sunday 3 October, it will include road races and individual time trials for elite men and women and under-23 men.

As a prelude to the championships, the Herald Sun World Cycling Classic Ballarat will take place this Sunday, 26 September.