It’s been a quiet season thus far for Mark Cavendish with just two wins, but HTC Highroad directeur sportif Valerio Piva has no doubt that he is on track for a strong showing in the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France.
“Mark is good,” he told VeloNation in a video interview conducted last week in Belgium. “He won Schledelprijs and he is confident. His programme now is the Tour of Italy and then preparation for the Tour de France. I know Mark is really motivated, he is a winner , he wants to win. I expect him in good shape, to be strong in the Giro.”
The Giro d’Italia is legendary for its toughness, and this year’s race looks set to be even harder than usual. Piva said that Cavendish will remain in the race until the end of the 12th stage, then call it quits and look towards getting ready for the Tour de France.
The Manx rider will hope to clock up at least one stage win before leaving the Giro; he’s taken five stages in that race. The Tour de France is the big one for him, though, and he has shown a superb record there. He missed out on a stage win in his first attempt in 2007, but has had a superb run since then. He clocked up four wins in 2008, six in 2009 and then five last year.
That run makes him by far the most successful sprinter in recent years, and Piva said that he believes he will be at the same level again this July. “Everybody knows Mark…if you see last year, he had some problems at the beginning, but won five stages. I expect Mark to be like that again in the Tour.”
He’s also convinced he has a good chance to shine at the world championships in Copenhagen, but warns that the British riders need to clock up more points to ensure that the team has more than just three riders in the race. Cavendish will be one of the big favourites and his speed will mean that other nations may be less willing to rely on their own sprinters.
That will provoke a stream of attacks, making it necessary for Cavendish to have a strong team to control the race.