Mark Cavendish - British pride or just living in hope for gold?

Mark Cavendish is the fastest sprinter in the world.  He is the current world champion.  He is the rider that every World Tour Cycling team would like in their team.  Except for Team Sky, his current employer.

After picking up three stage wins at the 2012 Tour de France with no team assistance, Cavendish was greeted with Brailsford's media comments telling him that he could leave Team Sky at the end of the year if he wished. A shock for the world and the cycling community? Or was their a clause in his contract to allow him to leave after the Olympics?

The media speculation 12 months ago about where Cavendish would end up in 2012 was immense. Would he or would not he sign with Team Sky? Would he sign with a team that used specialized bikes? It was not until Cavendish secured the rainbow colours in Copenhagen that he would reveal that he signed a three year contact with Team Sky for a reportedly 2.3 million dollars a year.

It was not long until many was questioning the motives of Cavendish. Team Sky was created with one objective in mind, and that was not to win the green jersey. Team Sky's blueprint was to win the Tour de France with a British rider within five years. While Cavendish ticks the box for being a British rider, he was never going to win the Tour.



2012 would be the year of Team Sky on its quest to win the elusive Tour de France. Wiggins had won the Paris to Nice at the start of the season and was he the stand out performer at the Critérium du Dauphiné.  Wiggins.  He went into the Tour de France as the hot favourite.  In fact there was speculation that Cavendish would not make the team, but would concentrate on winning the Olympics road race.

Cavendish in the end was selected.  But there was limited support for him. Only Bernie Eisel was selected specifically to help him. There would be no sprint trains that helped him win so many stages for HTC. 

After the race Cavendish was heard comparing his position to like “playing Wayne Rooney in defence.”  Has the love affair with the British team hit the rocks? But what was Cavendish really expecting from the Tour. He should have been happy that he won three stages, including the last stage on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées with Wiggins working in his corner to hunt down the breakaway.

If he thought 2012 was tough, 2013 will be no different for Cavendish.  Team Sky will throwing all its resources at either defending Wiggins title or helping Froome win his maiden Tour de France (should he stay at the team - which is becoming more and more unlikely). Cavendish better get used to the fact that it will not be able securing the green jersey at the Tour.

Some media reports have suggested that Cavendish signing for Team Sky was a marriage of convenience.  One that would help him secure gold at the London Olympics as Brailsford would be able to monitor him closely.  There was no fairy tale for Cavendish.  His hope for gold was left in tatters when Team GB could not control the breaks.

When the trading season opens up on 1 August, speculation will again focus on Cavendish. While he jump ship or stay.  Let's try to analyse that.

Cavendish will get support from his team to win the red sprinting jersey at the Giro d'Italia.  A country were he lives. He will get support in races like Tour of Qatar or even the Tour Down Under. But he will be playing second fiddle to Team Sky's GC ambitions at the Tour.

The question for the cycling community is will that be enough for the world champion.

Let's be frank, Cavendish should never had signed for Team Sky if he had ambitions of winning the Green jersey at the Tour de France.  May be it was British pride that led to him signing on the dotted line. Or the hope that working with Brailsford will help him win one of the last prizes he was yet to win.

But if he was hungry for higher honours at the Tour de France, there were 17 other teams where he would have received greater support in France.

I will not be surprised if Cavandish walks away from Team Sky at the end of the season.  In fact, we may well see Cavendish back riding a specialized bike at:





It is a team that could afford to pay his salary.  It is a team that will support him win green at the Tour just like it did to Boonen in 2007. 

The next two months will be interesting as we all speculate where Cavendish will be heading in 2013.

Regardless of where he ends up, we all hope to see more of this on the roads of Europe.

Canberra Cycling Corner - Weekly Update

Six days after the Tour de France finished on the Champs-Élysées, the best cyclists in the world crossed the English channel in hope of Olympic glory. Canberra's Michael Rogers hitched a ride with his Team Sky teammates on a private jet to minimize disruptions. 

The weekly wrap-up starts with a look at what we can expect over the next two weeks.  

OLYMPIC UPDATE

No success for Australia or Michael Rogers in the men's road race last night on the opening day of the Olympics. It took a brave effort by Michael Rogers to attack the peloton to try bridge the gap between them and the breakaway.  Unfortunately it failed but it did create an opening for Vicenzo Nibali and the eventual winner Alexandr Vinokurov. Michael's next race is the individual time trial which starts on 1 August.

Rogers on Box Hill - Photo Courtesy of Sum of Marc

Chloe Hosking hot sprinting form makes her one of the favourites for tonight's women's road race. While two laps of Box Hill will be a challenge for Hosking the run back to London and the flat finish will place her in a strong position. If the women learn anything from yesterday's road race, it will be not to let a large breakaway get away on the final lap of Box Hill.  Good luck Chloe.

Caroline Buchanan is yet to arrive in London with her BMX race will not commence until 10 August.  The team is staying and training in France until closer to the event.

Rebecca Henderson mountain bike race will also commence in the second week.  The women's final will start on 11 August. 

NO CANBERRA TOUR IN 2012

Unfortunately the Canberra Cycling Club announced that the Canberra Tour 2012 had been cancelled due to over the top Policing requirements for the race.  If I understand correctly, the Police escorts and road closure would have been equivalent to the Tour de France.

Lets hope that the race returns bigger and stronger in 2013.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/sport/cycling/canberra-tour-cancelled-after-new-regulations-cause-cost-blowout-20120723-22l0p.html

AUSSIE HELPS BRIT TO TOUR DE FRANCE WIN

The Brits finally got their first Tour de France winner (12 months after Australia). Michael Rogers was a clear protagonist in the fairy tale victory.  He controls the peloton, chased down danger attacks and was Wiggins 'best man' in the mountains.  A magnificent effort by Rogers. 

After the Tour de France, Rogers is still sitting in 26th spot on the IG Pro Cycling Index. He is the third ranked Australian.



RESULTS WRAP-UP

No success for Chloe Hosking or Jessie MacLean Orica - AIS at the Internationale Thuringen Rundfahrt der Frauen.  Hosking failed to finished the Stage 4 Time Trial while Jessie finished the 6 stage race in 46th spot.

Nathan Haas (Garmin-Sharp) and Matt Hayman (Team Sky) had differing Tour of Wallonie races.  While Haas was able to finish the race in 27th spot, Hayman was unable to start the first stage after falling ill on the morning of the race.  Haas also finished in 12th in the young rider classification.


RACES COMING UP

A large Canberra contingent will be starting the Lakes Oil Tour of Gippsland that starts on 1 August.  On current form, Ben Hill and Joe Lewis (both RBS Morgans-ATS) will be the riders to watch. Suzuki-Trek will be hoping that the male riders will perform as strongly as their women teammates.  Other riders include: Team Suzuki-Trek (Timothy Cameron, William Lind, Ivan Michelin-Beard, Damien Wright, Mitchell Pearson, Joshua Lind and Sam Sautelle), Stuart Shaw (Drapac) and Alistair Loutit (GPM-Wilson Racing).  After a guest appearance with Suzuki-Trek, Mitchell Lovelock-Fay rejoins Jayco-Honey Shotz.

After the Olympics, Chloe Hosking (Team Specialized-Lululemon) heads to France for the Route de France Féminine, which commences on 4 August. The Route de France Feminine is an 8 Stage race.

Canberra Cycling Corner - Weekly Update

July is Tour de France month, and it has been a Tour full of suspense, and complete domination to date of Team Sky. 

Michael Rogers - Super domestique

In the lead up to the Tour de France, Michael Rogers was one of the form riders. He won the 2012 Bayern-Rundfahr and was second overall 2012 Critérium du Dauphiné.  He was a natural choice to lead Bradley Wiggin's tilt at the 2012 Tour de France title.

He has not disappointed. He has been by Wiggin's side, leading the chase on most of the dangerous attacks and dictating the pace of the peloton.  While Rogers has not enjoyed personal success at the Tour, he has at least helped Wiggins to the yellow jersey and most importantly kept it.  Who will forget the work that Rogers did in front of the peloton over the monster climbs during Stage 11 as well as reeling in the Evans attack on climb to Glandon. Rogers efforts to lead the Sky train was equal to  Christophe Kern (Europcar) who did all the work for Stage winner Pierre Rolland.

It is great to see Rogers back to full health and dominating the tour in his new super domestique role.  After 13 stages, is in 25th place, 33.13 minutes behind yellow jersey holder.

Photo: Graham Watson.

However, while most fans in Australia has been enjoying Rogers and Richie Porte lead the Team Sky train, the same cannot be said about some of the so-called Aussie fans on the mountains that have been hurling abuse Rogers and Richie Porte because they have been helping Wiggins (a British rider) at the expense of Aussie hopeful Cadel Evans.  Rogers said on twitter 'Perhaps the Aussie's booing @richie_porte and myself yesterday would like to pay our wages from now on! ‪#getoverit''

There is no room for this nationalist behaviour in cycling. These fans that take their combie across the English channel with their Aussie flags and boxing kangaroos have no understanding of cycling. It is a team sport, not a national race. We do not abuse a South Australian AFL player that plays for Geelong when they play Port Adelaide or the Crows. I hope this behaviour ends now.  


Rupert Guinness reports on this disgraceful behaviour in the Sunday Age.
http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cycling/fan-insults-shock-australians-20120714-2235a.html

Allison Rice - heading to the World Championships

This week Canberra's and Suzuki-Trek cycling hopeful received the news that she had been selected for the 2012 UCI junior road world championships in the Netherlands. Allison will be hoping that she can better her 18th spot in the time trial during the 2011 World Championships in Denmark.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/sport/cycling/rice-off-to-world-titles-20120710-21u8d.html

DBR Canberra Women's Tour - Results

The fourth event of the Women's Subaru National Road Series was held in Canberra between 6 and 8 July.  Beck Wiasak was the most successful local rider winning Stage 1 time trial and recording a second place in the fourth stage. The local knowledge around Stromlo proved to be very useful for Beck.

Unfortunately, there was no GC success for Canberra riders, although Megan Bagworth helped fellow Boss Constructions/Nutrixxion teammate Ashlee Ankudinoff take out third spot on the GC.

Given a strong team performance over the last two events has pushed Suzeki-Trek into overall second spot on the women's ranking.

Allison Rice was the best ACT rider, finishing in 14th spot.  ACT riders in the top 50 were:

Place	Race No	Last Name (*= U19W)	First Name	Team	Gap
14	12	RICE*,	Allison	Suzuki/Trek	+07:51
17	22	MEADLEY,	Laura	Suzuki/Trek	+10:19
19	2	WIASAK,	Beck	Suzuki/Trek	+12:14
21	59	NICHOLLS*,	Alexandria	Vikings CC ACT	+12:34
26	37	VIOTTO,	Emma	Suzuki/Trek	+16:10
34	5	WELLS,	Kimberley	Specialized Women SA	+20:53
41	27	BAGWORTH,	Megan	Boss Constructions/Nutrixxion	+26:52

Given a strong team performance over the last two events has pushed Suzeki-Trek into overall second spot on the women's ranking.

Giro delle Donne

The Giro delle Donne finished in Bergamo last Saturday after nine tough stages.  There was a record ACT participation in the event in 2012.

Overall ACT riders did well with  Chloe Hosking, Team Specialized - Lululemon the best finisher in 47th spot, Gracie Elvin, Faren Honda Team (74th) and Jessie MacLean ,Orica-AIS (76th).  Unfortunately,  Miffy Galloway Faren Honda Team was unable to finish the third stage.

Chloe also finished 12th in the overall points and young riders classification.

I am sure the ACT women will be back in 2013, stronger and better prepared after their experience this year. 


WHERE ARE THE CANBERRA RIDERS THIS WEEK AND PAST RESULTS?

Michael Rogers (Team Sky) - Michael will continue his efforts to help Bradley Wiggins secure his maiden Tour de France title.

Team Suzuki-Trek including guest rider Mitch Lovelock-Fay have been participating in the Star of the Indian Ocean Tour at La Reunion (a french Island in the Indian Ocean to the east of Madagascar). Mitch took out the 11th Star of the Indian Ocean Tour after a run of solid results, including a TTT win and a second in Stage 4. Apparently the team was without Ben Hill who somehow forgot his passport.

Fabio Calabria (Team Type 1 - Sanofi) - No success for Calabria in the Tour of Qinghai Lake finishing 110th in the GC. Hard to get a result with riders like Andrea Guardini in the race. After several weeks away from home, he is probably heading back to Europe.

Matt Hayman (Team Sky) - Matt is currently 52nd on the GC after five stages.  He has been instrumental in helping Sky rider, Ben Swift win several stages. He secured a top 10 finish (9th) on the fourth stage.

Rory Sutherland (Team UnitedHealthcare) - Rory missed out on a podium finish at the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix that was held on 8 July.  He was more successful at the Tour of America’s Dairyland’s Commonwealth Classic in Wisconsin where he picked up a second place finish.

Chloe Hosking (Team Specialized - Lululemon) - Chloe will be participating in the Internationale Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen (Germany) between 16 and 22 July before heading off to the Olympics.

Nathan Haas (Garmin-Sharp) - Nathan will be at the start line at the Tour of Wallone that commences on 21 July.