Mark Cavendish has described the 2017 season as the toughest of his career, and he was able to draw a line under it in Japan on Saturday with victory in the Saitama Criterium.
The Manxman’s victory counts for little in the grand scheme of things, given the Saitama Criterium is an entertainment event rather than a categorised professional race, but while it doesn’t put a gloss on a campaign that has yielded just one win, it allowed him to end the year on a positive note.
Cavendish’s season, of course, has been derailed by forces beyond his control. Epstein Barr Virus held him back in the early part of the season and then forced him into a long spell on the sidelines, and then, having managed to return in time for the Tour de France, his season was as good as over when he fractured his shoulderblade in a collision with Peter Sagan on stage 4.
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After coming back again to race in the service of teammates late in the season, Cavendish finished his campaign by claiming a podium place at a packed edition of the London Six Day – the event he has helped promote – before a brief but enjoyable trip to Japan.
“I’m happy finishing my season at Saitama,” Cavendish told Cyclingnews. “It’s been a great time in Japan, people are friendly here and I’m really happy I came.
“It [the Six Day] was nice. It was a full crowd most nights, so yeah, it was good. It was nice riding with Pete [Kennaugh], seeing how he learned throughout the week, and actually I was surprised to get a podium – really surprised – amongst all that at the beginning of the week. It was really nice.”
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