The 2016 season is just around the corner, with the first race of the WorldTour, the Tour Down Under, beginning on January 19. We have plenty of champions to watch, but what about the riders who need to get a result next year or else?
In the second of a two-part series (you can read the first installment here), Cyclingnews takes a look at five more riders with a point to prove in 2016.
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By adding Mark Cavendish to this list there will almost instantly be a comment below arguing that a man who has amassed 26 Tour de France stage wins doesn’t need to prove a thing to anyone.
Now, that’s a fair argument. After all, Cavendish has been the most dominant force within sprinting since his meteoric arrival, and it’s always easy to forget or somewhat diminish the staggering achievements he has accomplished simply because he made winning look so easy. However, if you’re won over by stats, then how about the following: In the last two calendar years, Cavendish has won a single Grand Tour stage. In the preceding two seasons, 2012 and 2013, that tally was 13, and in the two-year period before that again, 2010 and 2011, the tally was 15.
There are many factors in play when it comes to evaluating such a record. The Grand Tours may not have the same number of sprinter-friendly stages they’ve once had; the competition has become stronger, and more efficient; Cavendish has not had the same level of support seen since HTC; his 2014 Tour de France was ended by a crash on stage 1; and, to be blunt, he simply could have slowed. Take a wheel’s width of each of those points and you’ll arrive at today’s landscape – sprinting in the professional peloton does not have one superstar. It has many.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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