News
MANXMAN BACK IN FORM!!
(August 5, 2007) T-Mobile Team’s Mark Cavendish has wasted no time bouncing back from his topsy-turvy Tour de France debut - sprinting to his seventh season win at the Tour of Denmark on Sunday. The Manx fast-man edged out Juan-José Haedo (CSC) in a bunch finish to win the 175 km final stage between Præstø and Frederiksberg.
Despite Cavendish’s cruel baptism of fire at the Tour, which saw him twice hit the deck hard in the first week, the 22-year-old has lost none of his bullish confidence, or top-end speed. "After all my bad luck at the Tour I am absolutely delighted that it all clicked for me here today," said Cavendish. "I kept on believing in myself.”
Cavendish’s team mates kept their belief in him as well, and after they delivered him to the front the ‘Cannonball’ was able to finish off the job with change. "Greg Henderson gave Mark the perfect lead-out, and he was able to win comfortably in the end – and that was in front of more fans that at the Tour de France!" said T-Mobile Team Sporting Director Brian Holm, who was delighted with the team’s performance in his homeland.
Cavendish had been threatening a stage win here all week; placing third on Wednesday’s opener and second on Saturday’s morning stage. And on Saturday’s evening time trial, he showed that he has got more than just sprinting qualities in his bag of tricks, clocking the eighth fastest time in the specific event.
Arvesen win overall
Norwegian veteran Kurt-Asle Arvesen sealed the overall win on Sunday, after moving to the top of the standings courtesy of his time trial performance on Saturday. In the end he had 14 seconds to spare over runner-up Enrico Gasparotto (Liquigas) of Italy, thus maintaining Danish team’s CSC’s vice-like grip of their national tour – they have won here through Arvesen, Ivan Basso and Fabian Cancellarra every year since 2004.
Cavendish did his best to rain on the CSC party however, not just edging out Haedo for the stage win, but also overhauling former race leader Matti Breschel (CSC) in the points competition. Breschel started the final stage with a narrow two-point advantage over Cavendish, but the young Manxman’s stage winning heroics saw him snatch the jersey from Breschel’s grasp. Meanwhile, Italy’s Lorenzo Bernucci was the best placed T-Mobile rider on GC, placing eighth (+0’42) in the five-day six-stage race.
20-year-old Briton Ian Stannard made an impressive debut in his spell as a stagiaire with T-Mobile, working hard for team mate Cavendish and finishing 63rd overall at 8'02.
Cavendish gathering no moss
"It was a beautiful way to finish the tour,” said sporting director Brian Holm. “I just live 200 km from here, so we will celebrate this double-success tonight with a barbecue. Then we will go to see the Rolling Stones in concert tonight in Copenhagen. The lads have certainly earned that pleasure."
"Yesterday afternoon was perhaps my most pleasing day in my life as a sporting director. The team rode a very aggressive race from the get-go; countering every attack and showing extreme motivation throughout. It was simply great fun to be involved here in front of these crowds.”
How it unfolded
The classic break-of-the-day was reeled in with ten km to go, following solid work by home team CSC, together with T-Mobile and Liquigas, and the stage was set for the expected mass sprint finish.
Magnus Backstedt (Liquigas) opened the sprint for his in-form team mate Francesco Chicchi, who has already won two sprint stages here, but the T-Mobile train was able to maneuver Cavendish into a winning position.
It is T-Mobile's first World Cup win of the season - following a string of podium places. "It was the perfect day for the team. Everything worked out today. I am so happy for Chantal,” said sporting director Anna Wilson. “Chantal was in tears afterwards!”
Just last week Beltman was in Beijing with the Dutch national team to preview the course for the 2008 Olympics. “I really didn't expect top form from her today, as she has been doing a lot of travel recently and hadn't raced in three weeks,” added Wilson. “But in the end it was the extra freshness that counted.
“The Thüringen Rundhfahrt took a lot out of many riders, you could see Karin Thürig was looking a bit tired when she is normally so strong, but Chantal was fresh and she was able to take advantage of that to win for the team here.
“A World Cup win was a long time coming, and we were very close on many occasions, but now we have one in the bag and we are all delighted,” added Wilson.
It was the 30-year-old Dutchwoman's first victory this season. She won two races in 2006, has finished second in the national championships twice, and won the World Cup race in Rotterdam in 2003 and 2000. She finished second in the World's in 2000.
6 August 2007