Dan Lloyd of the DFL team has responded to Mark Cavendish's comments after the T-Mobile sprinter accused him and other British riders of not respecting race etiquette during Tuesday?s second stage across Exmoor.
Cavendish was hoping to hang to the race leader?s yellow jersey after winning the prologue and first road stage, but lost ground on the second climb on Exmoor after Lloyd and a other riders attacked and dragged a 33-rider group clear.
The stage was won by Russia?s Nikolai Trusov (Tinkoff) and he also took the yellow jersey. Lloyd was involved in the crash near the finish but moved up to seventh overall, 18 seconds behind Trusov. Cavendish lost almost eleven minutes and slipped to 34th overall.
?I don?t know what Cav was trying to say when he was talking about race etiquette, because people aren?t going to let him win the race just because he?s British,? Lloyd told cyclingweekly.co.uk before the start of Wednesday?s third stage to Wolverhampton.
?Nobody should rest on their laurels, sit behind T-Mobile and let them dictate everything. T-Mobile are a ProTour team but that doesn?t mean we?re going to let them win the race. It?s a very important race for us as well, because it?s our home race.?
?Cav?s a very successful rider and you can?t argue with that, but it was a very strange thing to say. We just rode our own race, but they wanted to control everything. Early on in the race there was one rider away and T-Mobile were happy with that, but then when someone else went clear Cav chased them down.?
Lloyd hurt his finger in the crash but started Wednesday?s third stage from Worcester to Wolverhampton. He is hoping a good performance in the Tour of Britain will earn him a place in the three-man Great Britain team for the world road race championships in Stuttgart on September 30.
?We had a great day with four riders in the front 34, and best team on the stage. I?m eighth overall and now we?ve got everything to play for on the final three days. My finger was pretty swollen and blue but it?s not a problem.?
?As far as I know they?re going to make the decision about the worlds team at the end of the Tour of Britain. Hopefully my ride on stage two didn?t do my chances any harm. I think Millar and Cav are definite selections but there?s one place left. I definitely want to go but I have to see if I get selected,? Lloyd said.
There be a full report on today?s stage of the Tour of Britain here at www.cyclingweekly.com.
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Official site: www.tourofbritain.co.uk.
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