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Mark Cavendish believes cycling has changed completely over the past few years: "It’s worlds apart from when I started"
CyclingThursday, 29 February 2024 at 11:48
At the UAE Tour, Mark Cavendish struggled to obtain results but performed with a new leadout that he is hoping to take into Tour de France glory. In his 21st season as a pro cyclist, the Manxman thinks the current peloton is a world apart than previous decades.
“I’m pretty sure it’s my last year. You cannot imagine how much cycling has changed;" Cavendish said in an interview with GCN. "I think there have been three or four iterations of cycling. It was more closed. The whole world has changed with information and the things that are available. We raced, and the race was reported on. Now, it’s everything you do…Pro cycling was a closer community. Everyone knew each other, we all knew we had a similar kind of job and were all in it together. Then the stakes became higher, there was more money involved, and that changes everything in life, doesn’t it?"
Cavendish began his career still in the 2000's and in there he began to build on a historic career that will stand the test of time. He was HTC's and the Tour de France's star sprinter, then Britain's Team Sky star, then experienced the same at Soudal - Quick-Step... Over the past few years he then experienced a roller-coaster in his career but still stands at 38 years of age, looking to win for the 35th time at the Tour de France and become the first rider in the sport's history to do the same.
Seeking this objective, he has been able to observe very visible differences at the top of the sport over the year. “In terms of sporting side, there were teams that came along. Sky came along and instead of it being slow then fast - there were two speeds - there was one constant tempo, and it changed the demographic of riders," he tells.
"You had to be able to sustain a high tempo the whole day. Science came in, data was able to be analysed, and riders were no longer picked on if they could win races or not; it was on how strong they were," he says. Arguably, it has also become regular to see sprinters who can climb or ride the cobbled classics with the best, creating difficulties for pure sprinters like the Manxman. "That changed things a bit then because there were only a couple of riders who could win races, and now everyone is strong."
The level is higher a the top but specially all around the peloton. “It has kind of gone full circle, it’s just that the level’s gone higher because of that. I’m lucky I’ve been able to adapt to that and see it," Cavendish believes. "But it’s worlds apart from when I started, that’s for sure.”
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- Wrong, CrashJames. Frankie a ringleader of the Motorola doping scheme along with Armstrong. Armstrong made his career. And Lemond--you are still clinging to his miracle of "iron injections"? Bless your heart.
MarkFour25-11-2024 - Wrong. Bassons himself said that leaving pro cycling was the best thing that ever happened to him. You don't belong in these comments, or anywhere near a bike.MarkFour25-11-2024
- Agree, it is incomplete to omit the doped peloton. Lance was just better at it, a bigger liar, and vindictively went after people to protect the secret. Look how many results had to be restated, where other riders were also stripped of their results, and the problems ex us postal riders faced because their doping programs were not as good as postal. Why we continue to spend any time on this a$$h0le is beyond me.Crashjames25-11-2024
- Frankie Andrew, Greg lemond,Crashjames25-11-2024
- Christophe Bassons is one of many names. If you don’t that story, you don’t belong in these comments.PhilRidesBikes25-11-2024
- Not all riders in the peloton were using drugs, or using them to the same degree. Plenty of books published from cyclists saying they didn’t all get access to the same stuff whether they wanted it or not. Christophe Basons is just one of many who were outcast for not joining the program. Many new young riders were sent home if they didn’t abide by Lances rules. Andy Hampsten is another clean rider who refused to dope.PhilRidesBikes25-11-2024
- Lance lied, cheated, & destroyed lives during his entire cycling career. He claimed to enter the sport as a clean athlete, but there is evidence was already well into using banned substances as a triathlete. Lance is still lying about his use of banned substances & blood transfusions during his return to competition with Astana team.PhilRidesBikes25-11-2024
- I still can't believe how her teammates treated her that day. Her teammate literally sideswiped her and took her out and then after the race, the teammate claimed that she saw something yellow fall but she kept riding because she was going for the stage win (but finished 8th in the sprint). What the actual heck...Pogboom25-11-2024
- Many other drugs cheats also had no empathy.awp25-11-2024
- See if you can name one person whose career Lance Armstrong destroyed. Just one.MarkFour25-11-2024