Cavendish wants one more

By Greg Johnson

After claiming back-to-back victories at the Tour of Britain, Manxman Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile) has declared he's motivated to take another victory to reach his personal target of 11 wins. The 22 year-old successfully defended his yellow jersey on Stage 1 of the UCI 2.1 event with a lead out by team-mate and fellow Briton Roger Hammond. "It's fantastic because I am into double figures now, and I am just one win short of my target of 11 season wins," Cavendish told T-mobile-team.com. "It is a real motivation."

The neo-professional has taken the professional peloton by storm in 2007, taking victories in a variety of events including ProTour stage wins. "Roger did a perfect job in the sprint, leading me out to the last 200m," reflected Cavendish of his Stage 1 triumph. "That was even further than I needed, so I couldn't lose then!"

"I can take no credit for this win," he added. "It was down to solid team-work all the way. There were lots of attacks in the first 50km and the team worked really hard to control things, while I was able to sit comfortably out of the wind."

Cavendish's victories to date include Tour of Britain's Prologue and Stage 1, Tour of Eneco's Stage 2, Tour of Denmark's Stage 6, Ster Elektrotoer's Stage 4, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya's Stages 2 and 6, 4 Jours de Dunkerque's Stages 3 and 6 and Scheldeprijs Vlaanderen.

The Tour of Britain continues today with a 169.2 kilometre stage from Yeovilton - Taunton.