Andre Greipel may have had a superb start to the season with victory in the Down Under Classic and on three stages of the Santos Tour Down Under, but Mark Cavendish is more conscious of the sprinting talents of another former team-mate.
Like Greipel, Matt Goss also raced alongside Cavendish in the HTC Highroad squad. The Australian spent the last few seasons backing the Manxman and helping him clock up some of his victories, but showed last season that he is a winner in his own right when he took Milan-Sanremo plus stages in Paris-Nice, the Tour of California and the Tour of Oman.
He also went close to grabbing the rainbow jersey, finishing just behind Cavendish in the world road race championships.
Because of these results, Cavendish knows that the Australian is one to look out for. “’Gossy' is the only rider I fear right now to beat me in a bunch sprint,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald at the Tour of Qatar. “When he is on form he is incredible. He arrives so fresh because he can climb well, and he is clever on the bike. Renshaw is also clever,” he added, speaking about another Australian sprinter who went to Rabobank, “the best lead-out man in the world.”
The world champion has got his year off to a strong start with victory on stage three of the Tour of Qatar. He lost out on other days when winds split the bunch, but has two more chances to add another early-season triumph. Today’s fifth leg runs 160 kilometres from Qatar’s Camel race track to Al Khor Corniche, then a big bunch gallop is expected to conclude tomorrow’s race to Doha Corniche.
Cavendish and his Sky Procycling team will then head to the Tour of Oman. The Briton has pinpointed Milan-Sanremo, the Tour de France and Olympic Games as his top targets for this year, but recently said that he wanted to win throughout the season rather than just focus on those objectives.