Interview: Mark Cavendish
World Madison Champion
24th of February, 2006; by Larry Hickmott
Commonwealth Games Features Home Page
Above: One of my favourite moments of 2005 -- after Roger Hammond had won the stage from Robin Sharman, Mark Cavendish goes and wins the bunch sprint ahead of some of the best in the business on stage 2 of the Tour of Britain.
When it comes to small nations at the Commonwealth Games, the Isle of Man must rank as one of the smallest and yet it boasts a very powerful cycling team, one that many bigger nations would be proud to have on its side. You don't get a lot better than having a reigning World Champion in your squad and the Isle of Man has just that in Mark Cavendish.
Mark is the World Madison champion, a title he won with English rider Rob Hayles last March in Los Angeles when riding for Great Britain. Whilst Rob is at home with wife Vickie and new born baby Madeleine, close to departing for Oz next week, Mark is already in Sydney preparing for the Sydney World Track Cup. The UCI event will provide a useful hit out for a number of riders in the GB team before they travel to Melbourne for the Commonwealth Games.
At the Games, Mark expects to be doing the Scratch and Points races on the track before he switches to the road for the Road Race. Whether it is the track or road, Mark will always be a threat for a medal and his form in the Tour of Langkawi where he had a number of podium places in bunch sprints shows that on the flattish course over a reasonable distance for a rider of his age in Melbourne, if Mark is still about at the end, there are few riders if any riders quicker in a sprint.
British Cycling asked Mark if he was nervous at all about competing in his first Commonwealth Games and his first taste of 'Games' life. "Only since being in Oz have I got nervous" Mark replied. "The reality of how close the Games are hit me when I arrived and looked at the programme. I also have the Sydney World Cup two weeks prior to the Games, so the fact that we have two major events in as many weeks has added to the pressure."
Mark is based in Sydney and has been since the Tour of Langkawi finished. Asked how the preparation is going, he says "the weather definitely makes it more enjoyable, and the place we're staying at - Cronulla, South Sydney - keeps the morale high as it's such a laid back place. The fact we're training here will help us cope with the heat when the Games begin also. We train using the 2000 Olympic Velodrome (Dunc Gray Stadium) which is in Bankstown, about 35km from Cronulla."
Above: Mark racing at Otley on his way to the British Cycling Circuit Race Title.
There has been no shortage of racing outside of the track training either as Mark explained. "We are doing two criteriums this week. They are only club races, but the Heffron Park Handicaps are quite hard, as the handicaps are huge and you have to go flat out for the whole race (are we seeing the secret to the Aussie success!). I just finished Le Tour de Langkawi before travelling here where we all had a good race and gained a bit of race fitness which is really important before a major event such as the Games."
Finally, we asked, what are the best and worst things about being away from home?
"The roads aren't as good for training around here as they are mostly highways, although the National Park is nice, but it is only one road, so gets a bit monotonous. The weather more than makes up for that though! Obviously I'm missing Melissa (Mark's girlfriend from the Isle of Man), and the time difference can make it awkward to speak to each other, but she is completely understanding about what I do for a living."
Our thanks to Mark for his time and we wish him and all the Isle of Man team the best of luck in Sydney and the Commonwealth Games where British Cycling will be bringing you the latest coverage of the cycling.
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