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“I don’t think you can ever count Cavendish out" - Alberto Contador
CyclingFriday, 05 May 2023 at 10:00
Alberto Contador and Mark Cavendish are riders of the same generation. 'El Pistolero' believes the Manx Missile is far from done, and is in fact having a good opportunity to spring back into success in the upcoming Giro d'Italia.
“Due to his age, the team he is in, which isn’t a traditional sprint team, do I think he can win another stage in a Grand Tour?" Contador told Eurosport. “I don’t think you can ever count Cavendish out. We are talking about a rider with an outrageous number of victories, a pure sprinter. A sprinter that has been at the top level for many years. I’m not going to say that he was the only rider that dominated back then because generations change, the years, etc."
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Now at Astana, Cavendish has been faced with the challenge of having a more modest leadout, something which he has not had to contend with often in past years. However this Giro will be a particularly difficult challenge, as the Kazakh team did not select a single rider who has been supporting him throughout the opening months of the season in the sprints, instead focusing on puncheurs for the hilly stages.
“Maybe now he is not in the best team to get that win, but you can definitely not count him out to get another stage win. There will be bigger favourites, but I honestly think he has a chance to win another stage on a Grand Tour," Contador believes.
Although it'll be a brutal Giro, in the opening two weeks there will be a few flat sprint stages which should fit all sprinters. Cavendish will need to have good legs to drift in the wheels of the main sprinters in the race, netting a stage win would already make it a successful race for himself and Astana, and would be an important achievement as he's yet to win in 2023.
“I hope to see him fight for the sprint stages. I think Mark has tremendous experience, he knows how to position himself well, and he will have opportunities to show this," Contador concluded. "I think the most important thing for him is to race solid a Giro, to try and accumulate kilometers at a good speed looking towards future objectives - and why not try and win a stage as well?”
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