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]