Mark Cavendish recently guest-edited Procycling magazine. He chose a variety of feature subjects, including investigations into concussions, an interview with Marianne Vos, a celebration of Milan-San Remo and a retro feature about Chris Boardman's 1992 Olympic gold medal. He also sat down for an interview with Procycling's regular editor, Edward Pickering, to talk about what the future holds for him after a glittering career and a couple of challenging years. To subscribe to Procycling and support our journalism, go to https://www.buysubscriptions.com/print/pro-cycling-magazine-subscription.
The number 34 is looming large over Mark Cavendish's life and career from the perspective of early 2019. On May 21, he'll celebrate his 34th birthday. A decade or two ago, turning 34 might have meant retirement, but 34 is only getting towards the upper end of mid-life for cyclists these days. Alejandro Valverde, the current world champion, is 38, the current Giro d'Italia champion Chris Froome is a day older than Cavendish, and reigning Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas will be 33 when he makes his defence of the 2018 yellow jersey.
But 34 is also the single number that will define the life and career of Mark Cavendish between now, its end and far beyond. It's the number of stage wins taken by Eddy Merckx at the Tour de France, and trying to equal and beat it will be the last great challenge for Cavendish in his career.
ADVERTISEMENT
In his favour: the knowledge that some of the best sprinters in recent history have achieved their best results in their 30s. Mario Cipollini won 16 Giro stages in his 20s but 26 in his 30s (including 12 taken after he turned 34). Alessandro Petacchi was in his 30s for 16 of his 22 Giro stage wins (with five more stripped after his salbutamol case). Robbie McEwen won three Grand Tour stages in his 20s and 21 in his 30s, including four Tour stages after 34. As André Greipel has recently proved, sprinters winning Grand Tour stages in their 30s is not at all unusual.
Furthermore, Cavendish's ambitions won't be diluted by other targets. He has a rainbow jersey and a Milan-San Remo in his palmarès. More would have been nice, and he didn't sleep properly for weeks after getting beaten to the line by Peter Sagan in the 2016 Qatar World Championship, but his season won't be built around these races anymore. Gent-Wevelgem and Paris-Tours, which used to look like sure-fire wins for Cavendish, are no longer races for sprinters.
Coming back from mononucleosis
Targeting the Tour
Making it look easy
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/no-holds-barred-the-mark-cavendish-procycling-interview
No comments:
Post a Comment