Bicycle racers at the 2005 Rund um den Henninger-Turm in Germany

Road bicycle racing is a bicycle racing sport held on roads, using racing bicycles. The term "road racing" is usually applied to events where competing riders start simultaneously (unless riding a handicap event) with the winner being the first to the line at the end of the course (individual and team time trials are another form of cycle racing on roads).

Historically, the most competitive and devoted countries were Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland, however as the sport grows in popularity, countries such as Australia, Venezuela, Russia, South Africa, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Poland and the United States continue to produce world class cyclists.

Road bicycle racing began as an organized sport in 1868.^[1] The first world championship was in 1893 and cycling has been part of the Olympic Games since the modern sequence started in Athens in 1896.

Road racing in its modern form originated in the late 19th century. The sport was popular in the western European countries of France, Spain, Belgium, and Italy. Some of Europe's earliest road bicycle races remain among the sport's biggest events. These early races include Liège–Bastogne–Liège (established 1892), Paris–Roubaix (1896), the Tour de France (1903), the Milan – San Remo and Giro di Lombardia (1905), the Giro d'Italia (1909) and the Ronde van Vlaanderen (1913). They provided a template for other races around the world. While the sport has spread throughout the world, these historic races remain the most prestigious for a cyclist to win.

Road race types[link]

The Tour of Gippsland – a stage race in Australia– climbing through the scenic area of the Omeo Shire

Single-day races[link]

Race distances vary from a few kilometres to more than 200 km. Courses may run from place to place or comprise one or more laps of a circuit; some courses combine both, i.e., taking the riders from a starting place and then finishing with several laps of a circuit (usually to ensure a good spectacle for spectators at the finish). Races over short circuits, often in town or city centres, are known as criteriums. Some races, known as handicaps, are designed to match riders of different abilities and/or ages; groups of slower riders start first, with the fastest riders starting last and so having to race harder and faster to catch other competitors.

Single-day nocturnal races[link]

Nocturnal (night) races, such as the Shropshire Star Newport Nocturne and Athens Twilight, are held in an attempt to bring in larger crowds.^{[clarification needed]}

Stage races[link]

Stage races consist of several races, or stages, ridden consecutively. The competitor with the lowest cumulative time to complete all stages is declared the overall, or general classification (GC), winner. Stage races may also have other classifications and awards, such as individual stage winners, the points classification winner, and the "King of the Mountains" (or mountains classification) winner. A stage race can also be a series of road races and individual time trials (some events include team time trials). The stage winner is the first person to cross the finish line that day or the time trial rider (or team) with the lowest time on the course. The overall winner of a stage race is the rider who takes the lowest aggregate time to complete all stages (accordingly, a rider does not have to win all or any of the individual stages to win overall).

Ultra marathon[link]

These races are very long single stage events, usually lasting several days. Among the best-known ultra marathons is the Race Across America (RAAM), a coast-to-coast non-stop, single-stage race in which riders cover approximately 3,000 miles in about a week. The race is sanctioned by the Ultra Marathon Cycling Association (UMCA).

Tactics[link]

A team of riders draft behind one another, forming a paceline

Though the objective of a race is quite simple – to be the first rider to cross the finish line – a number of tactics are employed.

Drafting[link]

Tactics are based on the aerodynamic benefit of drafting, whereby a rider can significantly reduce the required pedal effort by closely following in the slipstream of the rider in front. Riding in the main field, or peloton, can save as much as 40% of the energy employed in forward motion when compared to riding alone.^[2] Some teams designate a leader, whom the rest of the team is charged with keeping out of the wind and in good position until a critical section of the race. This can be used as a strength or a weakness by competitors; riders can cooperate and draft each other to ride at high speed (a paceline or echelon), or one rider can sit on a competitor's wheel, forcing him to do a greater share of the work in maintaining the pace and to potentially tire earlier. Drafting may not be employed in a time trial, unless it is a team time trial.

Breaks[link]

A group of riders that "breaks away" (a "break") from the peloton has more space and freedom, and can therefore be at an advantage in certain situations. Working together smoothly and efficiently, a small group can maintain a higher speed than the peloton, in which the remaining riders may not be as motivated or organized to chase effectively. Usually a rider or group of riders will try to break from the peloton by attacking and riding ahead to reduce the number of contenders for the win. If the break does not succeed and the body of cyclists comes back together, a sprinter will often win by overpowering competitors in the final stretch. Teamwork between riders, both pre-arranged and ad-hoc, is important in many aspects: in preventing or helping a successful break, and sometimes in delivering a sprinter to the front of the field.

Terrain and Conditions[link]

To make the course more selective, races often feature difficult sections such as tough climbs, fast descents, and sometimes technical surfaces (such as the cobbled pavé used in the Paris–Roubaix race). Also weather may be a discriminating factor. Stronger riders are able to drop weaker riders during such sections, reducing the number of direct competitors able to take the win.

Climbs[link]

Climbs are excellent places for a single rider to try and break away from a bunch, as the lower riding speeds in a climb seriously reduce the drafting advantage of the bunch. The escaping rider can then further capitalize on his position in the descent, as going downhill singly allows for more maneuvering space and therefore higher speeds than when in a bunch. In addition, because the bunch riders are keeping more space between them for safety reasons, their drafting benefits are again reduced. If this action takes place relatively close to the target (e.g. another bunch ahead, or the finish), the ride over flatter terrain after the descent is not long enough to let the drafting effect (which is then working at full power again) make the bunch catch up, making the escape successful.

Cross Winds[link]

Wind conditions can also make otherwise routine sections of a course potentially selective. Crosswinds, particularly, alter the position of the "shadow" when drafting a rider, usually placing it diagonally behind the lead rider. To take advantage of this, an attacking rider rides at high speed at the front of the peloton, on the opposite side of the road from which the crosswind is blowing. This tactic is known as "putting it in the gutter" in English. Following riders are unable to fully shelter from the wind. If such tactics are maintained for long enough, a weaker rider somewhere in the line will be unable to keep contact with the rider directly ahead, causing the peloton to split up. Taking advantage of crosswinds is a less prominent feature of Grand Tours for a variety of reasons, but are often decisive in one-day races, most notably in one-day classics in windswept Belgium and the Netherlands.

Speed[link]

As well as exceptional fitness, successful riders must develop excellent bike handling skills in order to ride at high speeds in close quarters with other riders. Individual riders can approach speeds of 110 km/h (68 mph) while descending winding mountain roads and may reach 60–80 km/h (37–50 mph) level speeds during the final sprint to the finish line.

Gruppetto[link]

In more organized races, a SAG wagon ("Support And Gear") or Broom wagon follows the race to pick up stragglers. In professional stage racing, particularly the Tour de France, riders who are not in a position to win the race or assist a teammate, will usually attempt to ride to the finish within a specified percentage of the winner's finishing time, to be permitted to start the next day's stage. Often, riders in this situation band together to minimize the effort required to finish within the time limit; this group of riders is known as the "gruppetto" or "autobus". In one-day racing, professionals who no longer have any chance to affect the race outcome will routinely withdraw, even if they are uninjured and capable of riding to the finish.

Teams[link]

Levi Leipheimer, American professional, wearing his team Astana colors

While the principle remains that the winner is the first to cross the line, many riders are grouped together in teams, usually with commercial sponsors. On professional and semi-professional teams, team names are typically synonymous with the primary sponsors. As an example, some prominent professional teams of the last 30 years have been Team Telekom, Rabobank, ONCE, Mapei and Lampre.^[3] The size of the team varies, from three in an amateur event for club riders to a dozen in professional races. Team riders decide between themselves, before and during the race, who has the best chance of winning. The choice will depend on hills, the chances that the whole field will finish together in a sprint, and other factors. The rest of the team will devote itself to promoting its leader's chances, taking turns in the wind for him, refusing to chase with the peloton when he or she escapes, and so on.

In professional races, team coordination is often performed by radio communication between the riders and the team director, who travels in a team car behind the race and monitors the overall situation. The influence of radios on race tactics is a topic of discussion amongst the cycling community, with some arguing that the introduction of radios in the 1990s has devalued the tactical knowledge of individual riders and has led to less exciting racing.^[4] In September 2009, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the governing body of pro cycling, voted to phase in a ban on the use of team radios in men's elite road racing.^[5]

Types of riders[link]

Within the discipline of road racing, different cyclists have different (relative) strengths and weaknesses. Depending on these, riders tend to prefer different events over particular courses, and perform different tactical roles within a team.

The main specialities in road bicycle racing are:

• Climber
• Puncheur
• Time trialist
• Sprinter
• Domestique
• All-rounder

Notable bicycle races[link]

Grand tours[link]

The most famous cycling race is the Tour de France, a multi-stage tour over three weeks nominally through France, traditionally ending in Paris. Similar long, multi-stage tours are held in Italy (the Giro D'Italia) and Spain (the Vuelta a España). These three races make up the "grand tours".

Olympic games[link]

The historian Wlodzimierz Golebiewski says: "Cycling has become a major event on the Olympic programme ... Like many other sports it has undergone several changes over the years. Just as there used to be track and field events such as the standing high jump or throwing the javelin with both hands, cyclists, too, used to compete for medals in events which today have been forgotten; for example in Athens in 1896, they attempted a 12-hour race, and in London, in 1908, one of the events was a sprint for 603.49 metres (660 yards)."^[6] The Olympic Games has never been as important in road cycling as in other sports. Until the distinction ended, the best riders were professionals rather than amateurs and so did not take part.^[6]

UCI ProTour events[link]

Professional racing is governed by the Union Cycliste Internationale. In 2005 it instituted the UCI ProTour (renamed World Tour in 2011) to replace the UCI Road World Cup series. While the World Cup contained only one-day races, the World Tour includes the Grand Tours and other large stage races such as Tour Down Under, Tour de Suisse, Paris–Nice and the Critérium de Dauphiné Libéré.

The former UCI Road World Cup one-day races – which include all five Classic cycle races or "Monuments" – are also part of the ProTour: Milan – San Remo (Italy), Ronde van Vlaanderen (Belgium), Paris–Roubaix (France), Liège–Bastogne–Liège (Belgium) and Amstel Gold Race (Netherlands) in the spring, and Clásica de San Sebastián (Spain), HEW Cyclassics (Germany), Züri-Metzgete (Switzerland), Paris–Tours (France) and Giro di Lombardia (Italy) in the autumn season.

Paris–Rouen[link]

The success of the races in the Parc de St-Cloud inspired the Compagnie Parisienne and the magazine Le Vélocipède Illustré to run a race from the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to the cathedral in Rouen on 7 November 1869. It was the world's first long-distance road race and also won by Moore, who took 10 hours and 25 minutes to cover 134 km. The runners-up were the Count André Castéra, who had come second to Moore at St-Cloud, and Jean Bobillier, riding a farm bike that weighed 35 kg. The only woman to finish within 24 hours was the self-styled Miss America, in reality an unknown English woman who, like several in the field, had preferred not to compete under her real name.

International development[link]

The growth of organised cycle racing led to the development of national administrative bodies, in Britain in 1878, France 1881, the Netherlands 1883, Germany 1884 and Sweden 1900. Sometimes, as in Britain, cycling was originally administered as part of athletics, since cyclists often used the tracks used by runners. This, according to historian James McGurn, led to disputes within countries and internationally.

The Bicycle Union [of Britain], having quarrelled with the Amateur Athletic Association over cycle race jurisdiction on AAA premises, took issue with the Union Vélocipèdique de France over the French body's willingness to allows its "amateurs" to compete for prizes of up to 2,000 francs, the equivalent of about sixteen months' pay for a French manual worker.^[1]

The first international body was the International Cycling Association (ICA), established by an English schoolteacher named Henry Sturmey, the founder of Sturmey-Archer. It opened in 1893 and held its first world championship in Chicago, USA, the same year. A new organisation, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), was set up on 15 April 1900 during the Olympic Games in Paris. Britain was not initially a member, but joined in 1903. The UCI, based in Switzerland, has run the sport ever since.

Season[link]

In its home in Europe and in the United States, cycle racing on the road is a summer sport, although the season can start in early spring and end in autumn. The months of the season depend on the hemisphere. A racing year is divided between lesser races, single-day classics and stage races. The classics include the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris–Roubaix and Milan – San Remo. The other important one-day race is the World Championships. Unlike other classics, the World Championships is held on a different course each year and ridden by national rather than sponsored teams. The winner wears a white jersey with coloured bands (often called "rainbow bands") around the chest.

In Australia, due to the relatively mild winters and hot summers, the amateur road racing season runs from autumn to spring, through the winter months, while criterium races are held in the mornings or late afternoons during the summer. Some professional events, including the Tour Down Under, are held in the southern summer, mainly to avoid clashing with the major northern hemisphere races and allowing top professionals to compete.

Bicycle championships[link]

• Olympic Games
• Commonwealth Games
• World Cycling Championship

See also[link]

• Bicycle racing
• List of important cycling events

References[link]

The peloton of the Tour de France

Bicycle racing is a competition sport in which various types of bicycles are used. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, time trialling, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, bike trials, and cycle speedway. Bicycle racing is recognised as an Olympic sport. The Union Cycliste Internationale is the world governing body for cycling and international competitive cycling events.

Bicycle races are popular all over the world, especially in Europe. The countries most devoted to bicycle racing are Italy, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, although the United States has international standing, as do Australia, Luxembourg, and the UK.

History[link]

Cycle-racing has a long history

In Europe, bicycle racing is a source of national pride: German Democratic Republic postage stamp depicting Gustav-Adolf Schur, 1960

The first bicycle race is popularly held to have been a 1,200 meter race on the 31 May 1868 at the Parc de Saint-Cloud, Paris. It was won by expatriate Englishman James Moore who rode a wooden bicycle with iron tires.^[1] The machine is now on display at the museum in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England.

The Union Cycliste Internationale was founded on 14 April 1900 by Belgium, the United States, France, Italy, and Switzerland to replace the International Cycling Association, which had been formed in 1892, over a row with Great Britain as well as because of other issues.

Types of races[link]

The final stage in Australia's Tour of Gippsland climbing up "The Gap" to Omeo

Road races may involve both team and individual competition, and are contested in various ways. They range from the one-day road race, criterium, and time trial to multi-stage events like the Tour de France and its sister events which make up cycling's Grand Tours.

The races typically take place from spring through to fall. Many riders from the northern hemisphere spend the winter in countries such as Australia, to compete or train. Professional races range from the multi-day "Grand Tour" stage races such as the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, Tour of California and the Vuelta a España to single day "Classics" such as the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Milan – San Remo. The longest one-day road race sanctioned by USA Cycling is Lotoja which covers the 206 miles (332 km) from Logan, Utah to Jackson, Wyoming. Criteriums are races based on circuits typically less than a mile in length and sometimes run for a set time (60min, 90min, etc.) rather than a specific distance. Criteriums are the most popular form of road racing in North America. In Belgium, kermesses are popular, single-day events of usually 120+km. As well as road races in which all riders start simultaneously, individual time trial and team time trial events are also held on road-based course

Track cycling encompasses races that take place on banked tracks or velodromes. Events are quite diverse and can range from individual and team pursuits, two-man sprints, to various group and mass start races. Competitors use track bicycles which do not have brakes or freewheels.

Cyclo-cross originated as a sport for road racers during the off season, to vary their training during the cold months. Races typically take place in the autumn and winter (the international or World Cup season is September–January) and consist of many laps of a 2–3 km or 1–2 mile course featuring pavement, wooded trails, grass, steep hills, and obstacles requiring the rider to dismount, carry the bike and remount in one motion. Races for senior categories are generally between 30 minutes and an hour long, the distance varying depending on the conditions. The sport is strongest in traditional road cycling countries such as Belgium (Flanders in particular) and France.

Mountain bike races are held off-road and involve moderate to high degree of technical riding. There are several varieties; the main categories are cross-country and downhill but also 4X or four cross racing.

Trophy from the Deutschland Tour (Tour of Germany)

BMX takes place off-road. BMX races are sprints on purpose-built off-road single-lap tracks typically on single-gear bicycles. Riders navigate a dirt course of jumps and banked and flat corners.

Bike trials is a sport where riders navigate natural and man-made obstacles without putting down their foot, or "dabbing". It is similar to motorcycle trials. Points are awarded for bike handling skills.

Cycle speedway is bicycle racing on short outdoor dirt tracks, 70-90m in length.

Motor-paced racing and Keirin use motorcycles for pacing so bicyclists achieve higher speeds.

Average speeds[link]

Speeds achieved on indoor tracks are usually greater than those on roads. Other factors affecting speed are the route profile (flats and hills), wind conditions, temperatures and elevation. At a 2009 event in Russia, Kevin Sireau achieved an average of 20.73 meters/sec with a flying start over 200 meters. The speed over 1000 meters at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games was 16.39 meters/sec recorded by Chris Hoy. Average speeds clearly drop with increasing distance, so that over the 120 km Cootamundra Annual Classic it is 11.78 meters/sec. In the 259 km 2010 Paris-Roubaix, the winner set a speed of 10.92 meters/sec, while over the 818 km Furnace Creek 508, the speed drops dramatically to 8.34 meters/sec. For an extreme road distance such as the 4800 km Race Across America, the average speed of the record holder is 5.65 meters/sec, while the 2350 km Freedom Trail over mountainous terrain in South Africa is at a record speed of 1.9 meters/sec.

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cycling (sport)

• Alleycat races
• List of doping cases in cycling
• List of professional cyclists who died during a race

References[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2010)

A Cyfac racing bicycle with shaped aluminum frame, dual carbon fiber stays and Campagnolo components.

The term road bicycle is used to describe bicycles built for traveling at speed on paved roads. Some sources use the term to mean racing bicycle. Other sources specifically exclude racing bicycles from the definition, using the term to mean a bicycle of a similar style but built more for endurance and less the fast bursts of speed desired in a racing bicycle; as such, they usually have more gear combinations and fewer hi-tech racing features. Certain of these bicycles have been referred to as 'sportive' bicycles to distinguish them from racing bicycles.^[1]

Compared to other styles of bicycle, road bicycles share common features:

• The tires are narrow, high-pressure, and smooth to decrease rolling resistance.
• They usually use multiple derailleur gears; however, single-speed and fixed-gear varieties exist.
• The bicycle is of a lightweight construction.

The term road bicycle can also describe any type of bike used primarily on paved roads, in contrast to bikes primarily intended for off-road use, such as mountain bikes. Several variations of road bikes include:

• Touring bicycles are designed for bicycle touring: they are robust, comfortable, and capable of carrying heavy loads.
• Hybrid bicycles are designed for a variety of recreational and utility purposes. While primarily intended for use on pavement, they may also be used on relatively smooth unpaved paths or trails.
• Utility bicycles are designed for utility cycling: are a traditional bicycle for commuting, shopping and running errands in towns and cities.
  • Roadster a specific form of the utility bicycle developed in the UK.
• Recumbent bicycles are designed for variety of recreational and utility purposes, but are characterised by the reclined riding position in which the cyclist is seated.

A vintage road bicycle by the Italian company Chesini. Photo by Ragnar Jensen.

• Vintage road bicycles, also known as classic lightweight bicycles, are generally older bicycles with frames which are manufactured using steel tubing and lugs. Certain examples of this bicycle type have become collectors' items, with potential values of several thousand dollars.^[2] Other cyclists prefer this type of bicycle to those manufactured using modern techniques because they are "practical, versatile, durable, repairable, and timeless, regardless of current popular trends."^[3]
• A flat bar road bike, also called a fitness bike is a relatively new style of bicycle. It is simply a road bike fitted with MTB-style shifters, brake levers and a flat handlebar.^[4][5] This combination provides a light, fast bike with a more upright and neutral riding position. A flat bar road bike is most commonly used for commuting, urban and fitness riding.

References[link]

Martyn Ashton

Animal Bike Tour, Aberystwyth, June 2007
Personal information
Full name	Martyn Ashton
Born	(1974-02-12) 12 February 1974 (age 38)
Team information
Discipline	MTB
Role	Rider
Rider type	Trials
Professional team(s)
1997 2005 2008–	Volvo - Cannondale Animal MBUK Team Ashton Diamondback
Infobox last updated on 12 June 2008

Martyn Ashton (born 2 December 1974)^[1] is a mountain bike trials rider and team manager. He has been riding professional trials since 1993^[2] and is often described as a mountain biking legend.^[3][4] He has been credited with turning it from a niche form of riding into the sport it is today.^[5]

Biography[link]

Ashton started out as a motorcycle trials rider, and began riding mountain bike trials later on.^[5] He has been the front man for The Bike Tour since 2002, and has been the British Biketrial Champion four times and has been the World Expert Biketrial Champion. Ashton is the High Jump World Record Holder. In 2008, Ashton entered the Mountain Biking UK 'Hall of Fame'.^[2]

Ashton not only rides trials, he has also designed the exhibition stages^[6] and has been designing products for his own Ashton Bikes range since 2002.^[3] He has appeared in TV shows, magazine covers and MTB videos, and also has his own column Hop Idol in the MBUK magazine.^[3] Ashton lives in Port Talbot, Wales.

Ashton broke his back in 2003 when he compressed a vertebra and fractured it during a fall, having misjudged a landing, but he soon returned to riding.^[7]

Ashton established Team Ashton Diamondback in order to provide support for young riders. Although they are top level riders nationally and capable of achieving results internationally, Ashton does not believe competition results are the be all and end all, and the team concentrate just as much on gaining positive attention in the media as well as competition. A range of Team Ashton bikes were developed during 2008, and released in October 2008 as part of the 2009 Diamondback range."About Team Ashton". Ashton Bikes. http://www.ashtonbikes.com/team-ashton-diamondback/. </ref>

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

Mark Cavendish

Mark Cavendish at the 2011 UCI Road World Championships
Personal information
Full name	Mark Simon Cavendish
Nickname	Manx Missile[1]
Born	(1985-05-21) 21 May 1985 (age 27)[2] Douglas, Isle of Man
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	69 kg (150 lb)
Team information
Current team	Team Sky
Discipline	Road and Track
Role	Rider
Rider type	Sprinter
Amateur team(s)
2004	Team Persil
Professional team(s)
2005–2006 2006–2011 2012–	Team Sparkasse T-Mobile Team Team Sky
Major wins
Grand Tours Tour de France Points classification (2011) 20 stages (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) Giro d'Italia 10 stages, 2 TTT (2008, 2009, 2011, 2012) Vuelta a España Points classification (2010) 3 stages, 1 TTT (2010) Single-Day Races and Classics UCI World Road Race Champion (2011) UCI Madison World Champion (2005, 2008) Milan – San Remo (2009) Grote Scheldeprijs (2007, 2008, 2011) Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne (2012)
Medal record Road bicycle racing Competitor for  Great Britain World Championships Gold 2011 Copenhagen Road race Track cycling Competitor for  Great Britain World Championships Gold 2005 Los Angeles Madison Gold 2008 Manchester Madison Competitor for  Isle of Man Commonwealth Games Gold 2006 Melbourne Scratch race
Infobox last updated on 14 May 2012

Mark Cavendish MBE (born 21 May 1985) is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam Team Sky. He rode for HTC-Highroad prior to its disbandment at the end of the 2011 season. Originally a track cyclist specialising in the madison, points race, and scratch race disciplines, he has competed on the road since 2006, rising to prominence as a sprinter. He is the 2011 Road World Champion and winner of the 2011 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award.

On the track Cavendish won gold in the madison at the 2005 and 2008 World Championshps, with Rob Hayles and Bradley Wiggins respectively and in the scratch race at the 2006 Commonwealth Games riding for Isle of Man.

As a road cyclist he achieved eleven wins in his first professional season, equalling the record held by Alessandro Petacchi. Cavendish has won a total 20 Tour de France stages putting him joint 6th on the all-time list with Nicolas Frantz and 10th on the all-time list of Grand Tour stage winners with 33 victories. Other notable wins include the 2009 Milan – San Remo classic and the points classification in both the 2010 Vuelta a España and the 2011 Tour de France.

Early life[link]

Cavendish was born in Douglas, Isle of Man, the son of David Cavendish also from the Isle of Man, and Adele from Yorkshire.^[3] He began riding BMX at a young age, racing at the National Sports Centre in Douglas. He said: "I was always riding a bike, getting dropped in little races." Cavendish started racing informally at 12, as a mountain-bike rider.^[4] My mum would laugh at me, and I said it was because all my mates had mountain bikes, so I asked for a mountain bike for my 13th birthday and got one. The very next day I went out and beat everyone."^[4] It was at that time that Cavendish met David Millar at a race on the Isle of Man. Cavendish said he was inspired by Millar. Cavendish worked in a bank for two years after leaving school. He concentrated on earning enough money to support himself as a full-time cyclist later on, as he attempted to turn professional.^[2]

Career[link]

Early years[link]

Mark Cavendish (right, in pink helmet) sprinting for stage 6 of the 2006 Tour of Britain against Tom Boonen (left) while riding for T-Mobile Team

Mark Cavendish began his career with the British Track Cycling team. He won gold in the madison with Rob Hayles at the 2005 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Los Angeles. They had not raced together before. They finished one lap ahead of the field to claim the gold medal, ahead of the Dutch and Belgian teams, giving Britain its fourth gold at the championships. It was Cavendish's first world champion's jersey.^[5] Cavendish also won the 2005 European championship points race. He began road racing in 2005, riding the Tour of Berlin and 2005 Tour of Britain as a trialist with Team Sparkasse.

Cavendish began 2006 with the Continental team, Team Sparkasse, a feeder squad for T-Mobile Team. In June, he won two stages and the points and sprint competitions in the Tour of Berlin.^[6] He rode for the Isle of Man on the track at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, riding the scratch race. He lapped the field with three others: Rob Hayles; Ashley Hutchinson of Australia; and James McCallum of Scotland. He then beat these in the sprint to win gold for the Isle of Man. The race time was 23m 5s, an average 51.9 km/h.^[7][8]

His success at the Tour of Berlin led to a post as a stagiaire with T-Mobile Team from August until the end of the season.^[9] His best result for T-Mobile in 2006 was in the Tour of Britain where he came second three times and won the points classification. It brought a full professional contract for 2007 and 2008.^[10]

2007[link]

Cavendish's breakthrough came at the 2007 Grote Scheldeprijs race in Belgium, which he won overall.^[12] He went on to win stages at the Four Days of Dunkirk^[13][14] and the 2007 Volta a Catalunya^[15][16] and that brought selection for the 2007 Tour de France. He crashed in stages 1 and 2.^[17][18] and abandoned on stage 8 as the race reached the Alps, having taken two top-ten placings but unhappy not to have had a top-five placing.^[19] His debut season continued moving on to 10 stage wins, one behind Alessandro Petacchi's record 11 for a début season.^[20] Cavendish took his 11th win in early October—the Circuit Franco-Belge—to equal Petacchi's record.^[21] Among the wins were three in UCI ProTour events, the two in the Volta a Catalunya and one in the 2007 Eneco Tour.^[22]

2008[link]

Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish on their way to becoming the 2008 world madison champions in Manchester

In 2008, Cavendish returned to the track, winning the Madison 2008 Track World Championships in Manchester with Bradley Wiggins, as Great Britain topped the medal table.^[23][24]

On the road, Cavendish won his first stages of a grand tour, by picking two victories in the 2008 Giro d'Italia.^[25] Cavendish won four further stages in the 2008 Tour de France, his first coming in stage 5^[26] from Cholet to Châteauroux.^[27] He won again on stage 8,^[28] stage 12^[29] and stage 13,^[30] making him the first British rider to collect four stages in a single Tour.^[31] Overnight, at the age of just 22, he became the fourth most successful British professional in history.^[32] After stage 14, Cavendish abandoned the Tour to concentrate on the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.^[33] He and Team Columbia manager^[34] Bob Stapleton agreed that riding the Alps was a risk to his hopes.^[35] But Cavendish, with Bradley Wiggins, failed to win a medal, finishing joint eighth in the madison. He was the only British track cyclist not to win a medal.^[36] Cavendish was left frustrated and the friends did not speak for months.^[37] Following the Olympics, Cavendish remained angry with British Cycling for giving insufficient attention to the madison, though Chris Boardman stated that Cavendish's professional commitments also interfered with his build up to the Olympics. In November, Cavendish revealed that he had no further plans to return to track cycling.^[38]

The rest of his season was successful, with a total of eleven further race wins, including three each at the 2008 Tour of Ireland^[39][40][41] which he abandoned on the final day, and the 2008 Tour of Missouri,^[42][43][44] winning his only points classification of the season at the latter. At the 2008 Tour de Romandie, Cavendish won the prologue time-trial, beating compatriot Bradley Wiggins and emphasising his short-distance time-trial abilities.^[45]

2009[link]

Maarten Wynants and Mark Cavendish at the 2009 Gent–Wevelgem

Cavendish's 2009 season began at the 2009 Tour of Qatar, where he renewed his rivalry with Tom Boonen.^[46] Boonen won the race and one stage, though Cavendish took two stages; he also won two stages at the 2009 Tour of California, again beating Boonen in the sprint finishes.^[47] The Tour of California also saw Cavendish win his first points of classification of the 2009 season.^[48] Cavendish was a surprise inclusion in the British squad for the 2009 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, where he competed in the scratch race and the madison, failing to pick-up medals in either.^[49] He took up the European season at Tirreno–Adriatico, the Italian one-week stage race, where he won one stage.^[50] He then entered his first classic race, 2009 Milan – San Remo, and, after a week of uncharacteristically humble pre-race statements, rode effectively over the climbs that his rivals had said made this race impossible for him to win – and then tracked down Heinrich Haussler in the last 200 meters to narrowly win the sprint and the race, Cavendish's first victory in a race known as one of the five monuments of cycling.^[51]

Cavendish repeated his two-stage victory at the Three Days of De Panne from 2008, also winning the points classification.^[52] At the start of the 2009 Giro d'Italia Team Columbia-High Road won the Team Time Trial and he was given the Maglia Rosa leaders jersey, becoming the first British rider to ever wear it.^[53] The first 2 road stages however were fruitless for Cavendish, who was beaten to the line by Alessandro Petacchi in the first stage and was caught behind a crash and failed to make it back for the sprint the next day. Cavendish soon asserted his sprinting dominance on the race however, gaining 3 stage wins before abandoning following stage 13, citing a need to rest for beginning preparations for the Tour de France. He continued his preparation by racing the 2009 Tour de Suisse where he won stage 3^[54] and stage 6.^[55][56]

George Hincapie and Mark Cavendish in the green jersey during stage 3 of the 2009 Tour de France

During the season, Cavendish developed a remarkable partnership with his leadout man, Mark Renshaw. Continuing his run of success, Cavendish won stage 2,^[57] stage 3,^[58] stage 10,^[59] stage 11,^[60] stage 19^[61] and stage 21^[62] of the 2009 Tour de France. In winning the third stage he became the first Briton to hold the green jersey for two days in a row.^[63] Cavendish's win on stage 11 enabled him to reclaim the green jersey from rival Thor Hushovd, and equalled Barry Hoban's British record of eight stage wins.^[64] Winning stage 19, Cavendish set a new record for Tour de France stage wins by a British rider.^[65] In winning the last stage, he led home a remarkable 1–2 for his team, when his team mate and leadout man, Mark Renshaw, finished second on the Champs-Élysées.^[62]

Following on from the Tour de France, Cavendish won the Sparkassen Giro Bochum and took part in the 2009 Tour of Ireland, winning stage two.^[66] On 7 September he recorded the 50th win of his road racing career in a sprint finish in the opening stage of the 2009 Tour of Missouri.^[67] Before the race he confirmed he will remain with Team Columbia-HTC in 2010, ending speculation linking him with a move to newly created British team, Team Sky.^[67] Cavendish retained the leader's jersey by sprinting to victory on stage two but finished 5th on stage 3, losing the overall lead to Thor Hushovd,^[68] and was forced to withdraw from the race before stage four due to a lung infection.^[69] Although selected for the British team for the Men's Road Race at the 2009 UCI Road World Championships, his illness prevented him from taking part.^[70]

2010[link]

Following a dental problem, Cavendish delayed the start of his 2010 season until the 2010 Ruta del Sol, in mid-February.^[71] Following the lay off his form was poor, and he failed to defend his victory at the 2010 Milan – San Remo, coming in six minutes down in 89th place.^[72] Cavendish's pre-season goals were to win the green jersey in the Tour de France and win the Road Race at the 2010 World Championships.^[73] Cavendish also said that he would race in the 2010 Tour of Flanders but said he wouldn't win it, stating that the Tour of Flanders requires training, but he sees himself winning it in the future.^[74]

Mark Cavendish celebrates winning stage 1 of the 2010 Tour of California

Following a poor start to the season, Cavendish found form at the 2010 Volta a Catalunya, finishing seventh in the time-trial and winning stage 2.^[75] His team withdrew Cavendish from the 2010 Tour de Romandie after he made an offensive gesture after winning the second stage.^[76][77] Missing the 2010 Giro d'Italia, Cavendish instead chose to compete at the 2010 Tour of California starting on 16 May, where he won stage 1, for only his third victory of the season.^[78] On 15 June Cavendish crashed heavily whilst sprinting in the closing metres of the stage 4 of the 2010 Tour de Suisse, appearing to veer off line and bring down Heinrich Haussler and several other riders, raising criticism from other teams regarding his riding style.^[79] Cavendish entered the 2010 Tour de France. During stage 1, Cavendish crashed out of the final sprint, with just under 3 km (1.9 mi) remaining in the stage. Overhead camera footage showed Cavendish failing to negotiate a corner after entering too fast and turning too late. He then leaned his shoulder into a fellow rider as he travelled away from the apex.^[80][81][82] Cavendish returned to form by winning the stage 5,^[83] stage 6,^[84] stage 11,^[85] stage 18^[86] and stage 20,^[87] bringing his career total to 15 stage wins.^[88] He ended up second in the points classification, 11 points behind Alessandro Petacchi.^[89] Cavendish's next race was the 2010 Vuelta a España, in which his team won the team time trial with Cavendish crossing the line first taking the leader's jersey.^[90] He could only place second or third on the subsequent sprint stages, but returned to form later in the race winning stage 12,^[91] stage 13,^[92] stage 18^[93] and the points classification.^[94]

2011[link]

Cavendish had a slow start to 2011 failing to win a race until late February when he won the stage 6 of the 2011 Tour of Oman.^[95] He continued to race and came to his second victory of the season in the 2011 Grote Scheldeprijs. His third win of the Grote Scheldeprijs, following his previous triumphs in 2007 and 2008, brought him to the record tied with Piet Oellibrandt.^[96] At the 2011 Paris–Roubaix he failed to finish.^[97] He came second in the second stage of the 2011 Giro d'Italia in contentious circumstances (Cavendish gestured at winner Alessandro Petacchi for appearing to move across his path in the final sprint), to take the pink jersey into stage 3. Cavendish got his first grand tour victory of the year by winning stage 10 of the Giro, shrugging off claims that he had illegally held on to his team car when climbing Mount Etna on stage 9.^[98] He won his second Giro victory of 2011 on stage 12 before leaving the race.^[99] On 11 June it was announced that Mark Cavendish was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours.^[100][101]

Cavendish in the green jersey, behind his HTC-Highroad colleagues, is led out to victory on stage 15 of the 2011 Tour de France

Cavendish won stage 5,^[102] stage 7,^[103] stage 11,^[104] stage 15^[105] and stage 21 of the 2011 Tour de France—bringing his total to 20 career Tour de France stage wins,^[106][107] and the first person ever to win the final stage three years in succession. Even though he was docked 20 points for finishing outside the time limit after stage 18^[108] and again after stage 19.^[109] Cavendish went on to win the points classification; in doing so, he became the first British cyclist to ever win the maillot vert.^[110][111] Over the following weeks Cavendish took part in the post-Tour Criteriums. He won the Stiphout Criterium in The Netherlands, beating Andy Schleck and Frank Schleck to the line,^[112] then he won the Profcriterium Wolvertem-Meise^[113] and following that he won the Wateringse Wielerdag.^[114] On 4 August Cavendish's team HTC-Highroad announced that they would fold at the end of the season,^[115] fuelling speculation of Cavendish moving to Team Sky.^[116] On 14 August, Cavendish won the London–Surrey Cycle Classic; racing for Team Great Britain, it was the official test event for the 2012 Summer Olympics road race and part of the London Prepares series.^[117] Less than a week later, Cavendish started the 2011 Vuelta a España, but abandoned during stage 4 due to the searing heat.^[118] After withdrawing from the Vuelta Cavendish was allowed to be a late addition for the line up of the 2011 Tour of Britain.^[119] Cavendish won stage 1 in Dumfries to take the leader's jersey at that point in the race,^[120] and the final stage in London.^[121]

Matthew Goss, Mark Cavendish and André Greipel on the podium after the road race at the 2011 UCI Road World Championships

At the end of September Cavendish went to the 2011 UCI Road World Championships in Copenhagen taking part in the road race with an eight-strong British team. After the team controlled the whole race it came down to a sprint finish with Cavendish crossing the line in first place taking the Rainbow jersey. He became the second British World Champion after Tom Simpson in 1965.^[122][123] After much speculation, it was announced Cavendish would join Team Sky for the 2012 season.^[124] He will be joined by his HTC-Highroad teammate Austrian Bernhard Eisel.^[125]

In November Cavendish made a cameo return to the track, competing in the Revolution event at the Manchester Velodrome. He won the scratch race, his first win on the track of any kind since 2008.^[126] He announced that he was starting his training for the 2012 season earlier than in previous years, with the aim of being more competitive in the Classics.^[127] Cavendish won the 2011 Most Inspirational Sportsman of the Year Award at the Jaguar Academy of Sport Annual Awards at The Savoy Hotel on 27 November.^[128] In December Cavendish became the winner of the 2011 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award with 169,152 (49.47%) of the votes cast.^[129]

2012[link]

Cavendish in the rainbow jersey riding for Team Sky at the 2012 Giro d'Italia

Cavendish began his 2012 season at the 2012 Tour of Qatar, where after struggling with illness, he won stage 3 to take his first victory for Team Sky.^[130] He also won stage 5 later in the week, moving back into the top ten of the overall classification.^[131] He finished the race in sixth place, despite crashing on the final stage.^[132] Although he did not win any stages at the 2012 Tour of Oman, having suffered an injury in the first stage, he returned to win the 2012 Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne.^[133] Cavendish targeted a second victory in 2012 Milan – San Remo in March, but was dropped on Le Manie, 100 km (62 mi) from the finish.^[134] He did not manage to finish high up in any of the other 2012 classics. In the 2012 Tour de Romandie, Cavendish showed his ability in short time trials by finishing third in the prologue, but did not take any stage wins. A week later Cavendish took his season victories to 5 by winning the sprint on stage 2 of the 2012 Giro d'Italia. The following day, he was again in contention for victory on stage 3, but in the sprint Roberto Ferrari aggressively switched lanes, clipping Cavendish and sending the him to the ground and causing the whole field to stack up behind. Among other riders to fall was overall leader Taylor Phinney. Cavendish later tweeted that Ferrari should be "ashamed to take out Pink, Red & World Champ jerseys".^[135] He recovered from minor injuries to win stage 5^[136] and stage 13.^[137] Cavendish completed the Giro, but lost the points classification to Joaquim Rodríguez by a single point. He did win the minor Azzurri d'Italia and stage combativeness classifications. ^[138]

Riding style[link]

Cavendish has been compared to an athletics sprinter pushing on the starting blocks.^[139] At the 2009 Tour de France the points that he gained in the intermediate sprint in stage 14 were removed after he was judged to have driven Thor Hushovd too close to barriers on the course.^[140] After stage 19 he said that he was "embarrassed" for his comments about "deserving" green jersey wearer Hushovd.^[65] After stage four of the 2010 Tour of Switzerland, Cavendish was found to be at fault for a crash involving himself and Heinrich Haussler during the end of stage sprint.^[141] The crash caused Haussler, Arnaud Coyot and Lloyd Mondory to quit the race because of their injuries, though Cavendish was able to continue.^[142] Cavendish received a thirty second penalty and a CHF200 fine. The start of the next stage was disrupted by fellow riders protesting at Cavendish's riding and style, and what they claimed was a lack of respect from Cavendish.^[142]

Personality[link]

Mark Cavendish at the 2010 Tour of California with his autobiography Boy Racer

Cavendish has been described as confident, even arrogant. In 2008 he said:

In June 2009 his autobiography, Boy Racer, which covered his career to date, was published.^[3] At a press conference in London ahead of the 2009 Tour de France, Cavendish explained that the book was "more a biography of last year's Tour stage wins" than an autobiography.^[143] His "biggest motivation for writing it had been to explain himself better", to counter the way he came across during interviews immediately after races.^[143]

Personal life[link]

He lives on the Isle of Man and has a training base in Quarrata, Tuscany, Italy.^[144][145] Cavendish is in a relationship with former glamour model and Page Three girl Peta Todd.^{[146][146][147]} On 3 April 2012, Cavendish announced the birth of their daughter, Delilah Grace Cavendish.^[148]

Career highlights[link]

References[link]