Although he has already won two races this year and says he is in very good condition as regards his body weight, Mark Cavendish has sought to play down any expectations that he could repeat his 2009 victory in Milan-Sanremo.
The Omega Pharma Quick Step rider denied that he was building towards the Classic today when speaking after he took stage three of the Tour of Qatar in a mass bunch gallop.
“I have written it off in the last month, it is not really a race for me any more,” he told Matt Rendell, who is working on the race for the official broadcaster, Al Jazeera television. “I am just looking forward to winning whatever races I can until the Tour de France and then being successful there.”
Cavendish’s statement was a surprising one and may be down to him seeking to take the pressure off as it appears that he is in a good position to fight for his second win in La Primavera. He has already taken stage wins in the Tour de San Luis and in Qatar, he has the backing of the Classic-focussed Omega Pharma Quick Step team, and he is clearly in good shape.
Time will tell if he is simply seeking to avoid the spotlight in relation to Sanremo, but he’s clear that he is in good condition. However he did say that his sprint is perhaps not what it was in other years.
“I am happy with my form, I am incredibly light…even lighter than I was last year at this time,” he said. “I don’t know how that will be form-wise. I don’t know how strong I am. I am definitely not putting out the same peak watts as I was last year. But that’s okay, because I’m still winning bike races.”
Milan-Sanremo is over a month away and in the meantime, Cavendish is fully focussed on the event at hand. He is just eight seconds off the race lead of Brent Bookwalter and with more sprint finishes likely, and a ten seconds time bonus seconds up for grabs for the stage winner, it’s completely conceivable that he could fight for the overall victory.