British Cycling coy over chances

Eurosport - Mon, 21 Sep 14:01:00 2009

British Cycling chief executive Peter King has played Great Britain's down chances at this week's Road World Championships in Switzerland - with sprint king Mark Cavendish facing a late fitness battle.

CYCLING 2009 Tour de France Mark Cavendish - 0

Cavendish is still recovering from the lung infection which forced him out of the Tour of Missouri earlier this month.

The 24-year-old - who won six Tour de France stages in July - has until Thursday to prove his fitness.

And King - the has overseen Great Britain's rise from 17th to first in the world rankings - admits it's hard to pick a winner from a field which includes Spain's Vuelta a Espana winner Alejandro Valverde.

"It's a different sort of team that goes to a Road World Championships," said King. "They've been out there competing in their own teams all summer and then come together in a GB team.

"There's some good quality riders in there but on the road you can never tell who's going to win. If it's a big bunch sprint and Mark Cavendish is at the front then we have a good chance but if it's hilly then maybe it'll favour someone else.

"Sometimes it's won by somebody who sneaks away early in the race, there's a lot of tactics involved but they'll go there feeling good about it."

Great Britain were awarded the maximum nine places for Sunday's 262.2km road race for the first time after the success Bradley Wiggins and Cavendish have enjoyed in 2009.

The original squad of 14 was tripped down to ten on Monday, with Dan Fleeman and Jeremy Hunt missing cut, while 21-year-old Jonny Bellis is in a critical condition after a crash on his motor scooter in Italy.

Nine will contest the race with Ian Stannard to replace Cavendish if the Manxman is ruled out.

David Millar will lead the team - despite winning the Vuleta a Espana time trial - leaving Garmin-Slipstream team-mate Wiggins to contest Thursday's time trial with Chris Froome.

Rising star Ben Swift takes his place in the road race team a week after claiming his maiden professional win on the Tour of Britain's seventh stage.

And despite King's cautious approach, 21-year-old Swift admits he's full of confidence heading to Switzerland.

"It's been an amazing week for me and to get my first professional win was all that I could have asked for really," said Swift - who finished fourth in the under-23 category at last year's World Championships.

"I was feeling pretty tired around London and I am still a little bit heavy now so I will have a bit of a recuperation period before getting ready for the worlds.

"I will go there so confident having achieved what I have done on the Tour of Britain."

Meanwhile, there are also podium hopes in the women's road race for Olympic champion Nicole Cooke and time triallist Emma Pooley.

While Peter Kennaugh, who will race for Team Sky next season, leads British chances in the men's under-23 road race.

More than the Games / Eurosport

Comment 1 - 13 of 13

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  1. Not got any problem with Cav, personally. Yes, he can­ be annoying. He does, however, need to watch what he­ says - his big mouth gets him (and his team) into­ trouble. I'm convinced it was the Manx­ Missile's comments which ended up denying his team­ mate Hincapie a day in yellow, such was his gloating,­ baiting, belittling of the Garmin team. You need­ riders from other teams sometimes!

    From pedro118118, on Tue 22 Sep 3:26PM

  2. Actually I thought Post 10 from Anna was pretty funny.­ Look, Cavs a great sprinter, possibly to become the­ best ever. But he does come across as having a big chip­ on his shoulder - as actually do quite alot of the­ British cyclists (Wiggins??). Its easy to see why -­ youve got these British guys mixing it up with the old­ world club of the Italo-Franco-Spanish riders and I­ suspect there is a bit of ill feeling and/or a culture­ clash. I would have thought that after living and­ training in Tuscany Cav would have mellowed a bit.

    BTW­ Cunego for the Worlds.

    From leandr0_77, on Tue 22 Sep 2:32PM

  3. re: comment 10 from Anna - its no wonder Cav gets­ pi$$ed of with forums when such a pathetic, unfounded­ comment such as yours is posted! go read his book luv,­ there is certainly no chips involved, is a damn good­ read in which he openly admit his own faults as well as­ his achievements. But also his passion for the sport,­ his total appreciation for his team and supprt staff is­ retiterated continually. if you are from Gt Britain­ Anna, why don't you perhaps start by being proud of­ this talented rider who wears his heart on his sleave­ and is British!!!

    From Skelders, on Tue 22 Sep 1:07PM

  4. It's fair to say that Cavendish has no chance of­ winning this year. Next year or the year after could­ be a different story, as the courses are much flatter. ­ The quesion then will be as to whether the British team­ are strong enough to keep the race together and carry­ Cav to the line.

    From pedro118118, on Tue 22 Sep 10:22AM

  5. cavendish won't win he needs some vinegar to go­ with that chip on his shoulder,

    From Anna, on Tue 22 Sep 10:10AM

  6. Let's get some perspective. This year's Worlds­ course has over 4,500m of climbing - similar to a race­ like Liege-Bastogne-Liege or a mountainous stage in a­ Grand Tour. Forgive my pessimism, but Cavendish is­ usually riding the autobus in a bid for survival on­ such terrain, so he has no chance. If it does come to­ a sprint, it will be a very select group of strong­ all-rounders, not the lead-out bunch gallop in which­ Cavendish excels. Our best bets are Millar or Swift­ (if they can get in a good break). In all likelihood,­ it will come down to one of abvious candidates -­ Valverde, Sanshez, Cunego, Ballan, Evans, Schlecks etc.­ We need to wait for a flatter course next year. The­ TT is a different matter though, and with Wiggo, we­ have a great chance - go Bradley!!!

    From pedro118118, on Tue 22 Sep 9:04AM

  7. "Great Britain's rise from 17th to first in­ the world rankings" Guess someone should of told­ the UCI about how GB are No. 1 and not No. 10. Do they­ even have fact checkers on yahoo?

    UCI World Ranking
    ­
    Ranking on :
    21.09.2009

    Individual Teams Nations­
    Rank Prev. Code Country Points
    1 1 ESP Spain 1676
    2­ 2 ITA Italy 984
    3 3 AUS Australia 956
    4 4 GER Germany­ 753
    5 5 RUS Russian Federation 590
    6 7 BEL Belgium­ 575
    7 6 LUX Luxembourg 563
    8 8 NOR Norway 538
    9 9­ USA United States of America 528
    10 10 GBR Great­ Britain 489

    From Liam L, on Tue 22 Sep 3:43AM

  8. Largely agree with No3. Have to be careful about Nicloe­ Cooke though, she hasn't exactly had a stellar­ year, so I'd be suprised if she has the legs on­ Mariane Vos or Claudia Haussler to name but two - that­ said she is tactiacally brilliant as last years race­ proved. Emma Pooley might just be a better bet than­ Cooke on her current form and given the great­ performances she can put in on hilly courses. But you­ are right to mention the lack of proper coverage for­ the women, afterall Cooke and Pooley have more chance­ of bringing home a road race medal than any of the men.­ Cavendish won't figure because the course is just­ too hilly for him, I've no idea why they mentioned­ him. Millar is a strong outsider, a bit below other­ outside bets like Phillipe Gilbert. Favourites are­ surely Cunego, Valverde, Sanchez. As to the TT: Wiggins­ might get a medal, but is anyone looking beyond­ Cancelara for gold?

    From DAVID, on Mon 21 Sep 7:57PM

  9. Yeah I say steer clear of the rainbow jersey for a­ while until several goats are sacrificed on it or­ something to break curse.

    From istoleyourbicycle, on Mon 21 Sep 7:34PM

  10. yeah i agree he is the fastest, this season has proved­ that. Columbia have the ability to control races for­ sprinters even over hily courses. Thats the way the­ Italian's always do it, Bettini and Ballan showed­ us all that! Given the curse of the rainbow jersey do­ we really want a top Brit in it anyway....

    From Matthew, on Mon 21 Sep 5:14PM

  11. There are 'hopes' for Nicole Cooke! ­ 'Hopes'!!!?! Name another female rider who­ will get near her. Or Emma Pooley for that matter. ­ I'm a male cyclist but I get very frustrated at the­ lack of coverage women's cycling gets. An entire­ article telling us very little (Britain might have a­ chance with Cav in a sprint, or not...) but Cooke­ dominates women's World cycling and yet apparently­ only merits a cursory mention at the end, and without­ any mention of her colossal palmares. ­ 'Hopes'!!!!??!?!!! Unbelievable; Eurosport,­ hang your head in shame!

    From jamesdalby360, on Mon 21 Sep 5:02PM

  12. at Matthew, Cav is the fastest sprinter - fact. the­ issue/reason why he will not win is beasuse that the­ course is very hilly.......i agree the spannish are­ strong but we all know that an underachieving Italian­ who has done nothing all year is goin to win......

    From hanif_jetha, on Mon 21 Sep 4:48PM

  13. Hard to see us seriously rivaling the cycling­ powerhouses of Spain, Italy and the like just yet, but­ Wiggo and Cav have at least given us the chance to do­ it this year! Not sure how Cav would do in a sprint, he­ obviously has skills, but without a dedicated team­ working for him he might struggle. Millar is a good­ choice to lead the team, he definately has the­ knowledge and experience required, but would have liked­ to see him in the TT alongside Wiggins.
    Come on Team­ GB, you get the medals at the track worlds, now bring­ that success to the road!

    From Matthew, on Mon 21 Sep 4:34PM
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