Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Mark Cavendish listens carefully to understan how many stagessuit the sprinters(Image credit: AFP)
Sprinters Mark Cavendish and Alexander Kristoff (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Mark Cavendish says goodbye to the 2014 Tour de France before the start of stage 2 after separating his shoulder(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The British rider builds his season around the Tour de France and has amassed 25 stages since his debut in 2008. He crashed out of the race on stage 1 this year but was part of the contingent of riders who gathered at the Palais de Congress in Paris to watch as ASO’s Christian Prudhomme unveiled the 2015 route.
The Manx Missile was pleased with the overall parcour with the first week jam-packed with sprint stages, cobbles, and possible zones affected by crosswinds. With Omega Pharma-QuickStep’s prowess in the Spring Classics, Cavendish pointed to a first week of opportunities.
“I think it’s a nice route, I really do. I think the opening week, although there are lot of sprints, it’s probably going to be more tiring than if we were doing mountains. It’s a stressful week with small roads, crosswinds and cobbles. By the first rest day everyone is going to be tired,” he told Cyclingnews.
“The first week lends itself to a strong team in the sprints, especially if they can ride well on the cobbles or crosswinds. I believe we have the best team for that in Omega Pharma-QuickStep so I’m really excited about that. I’ll try my best, I’m looking forward to it and trying to be successful there again.”
Prudhomme’s plans to restructure the points awarded for the green jersey could open up the competition to a number of sprinters. In the last two editions of the race Peter Sagan has held a vice-like grip on the maillot vert but Cavendish, a winner of the competition in 2011, emphasised that his hunt would primarily focus on stage wins.
“It’s how it is, everyone has to adapt so doesn’t make any difference,” he said when asked about the change to the competition.
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“I think it’s a good idea that you have to win [stages] in order to get the green jersey. It doesn’t change the aim of trying to win stages and if you go there and do that you get the green jersey from it. I’ll try and go there and win stages and see what happens after that.”
In our latest video, watch Cavendish's reaction to the 2015 Tour de France route announcement.
