Mark Cavendish has confirmed he will get his 2017 season underway at next week's Dubai Tour before returning to the Gulf later in February for the Abu Dhabi Tour. He will then head to Italy for Tirreno-Adriatico to prepare for another shot at Milan-San Remo. Cavendish's big focus for 2017 will again be the Tour de France sprints, just as in 2016, when he won four stages and wore the leader's yellow jersey for a day.
Cavendish attended the presentation of the Abu Dhabi Tour route on Tuesday and is again the ambassador for the race. He has stayed in the UAE, training on the specialty cycling circuit in Abu Dhabi on Thursday an enjoying the warm weather. The Dubai Tour begins next Tuesday with Cavendish leading the Dimension Data team in three expected sprint finishes. He won two stages in 2015 and also took overall victory.
Cavendish started his 2016 season in Australia but has a planned a more gradual start to 2017 after his well-documented and intense season on the road and the track last year. By combining his road and track training he won a silver medal in the Omnium on the track, had huge success in the Tour de France and ended the season with a silver medal in the World Championships in Qatar. He kept racing until the Gent Six in December and went on holiday when other riders were already back in training.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I could do as well in 2016, why not, but I won't ride on the track. My season will begin on January 31 in Dubai," Cavendish told Gazzetta dello Sport in a brief interview.
“After Abu Dhabi I've got Tirreno-Adriatico on my programme and then San Remo. A second win at the Classicissima would be great but it’s the hardest race in the world to win and I don’t how my form will be, everything is built around the Tour de France this year."
Chasing the Cannibal's Tour de France record
With 30 stage victories at the Tour de France, Cavendish is only four short of equalling the record set by Eddy Merckx. Cavendish has often joked that he is not worthy to even wash Merckx's feet but now seems the record as something to aim for in the final part of his hugely successful career.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/2ktUJA9
No comments:
Post a Comment