HTC lead out man names Gilbert as Cavendish’s big rival for green
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Mark Cavendish and Mark Renshaw (HTC-Highroad) have built up a wonderful understanding over the past three seasons.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Mark Renshaw (HTC-Highroad) has a very specific job in Italy.(Image credit: Barry Ryan)
Mark Renshaw has predicted that Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) is the biggest threat to Mark Cavendish’s chances of winning the green points jersey in Paris because he will be able to score points during several hilly stages in the final week of the race.
Renshaw is Cavendish’s valued lead out man for the flat high-speed finishes like Sunday’s stage to Montpellier and also plays a vital roll in the now more valuable intermediate sprints on every stage. The Australian has to lead out Cavendish and then sprints himself to take away points from their rivals.
Renshaw reveals to Cyclingnews that he has carefully studied each of the stages of the final week of the Tour and identified where rivals like Gilbert and possibly Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) could score points. He has also seen how the HTC-Highroad team might try and stop them.
Renshaw has lead Cavendish to victory on the Champs Elysees twice in recent editions of the Tour de France and conceded that he may need to do it again if Cavendish is to win the green jersey.
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Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
