British sprinter Mark Cavendish resets goals after crashing out of the 2017 Tour de France, and says that long-term he wants to win gold at the 2020 Olympics
Mark Cavendish has said that he is aiming for a gold medal in the Madison event at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Speaking in an interview with the Times, Cavendish said that as soon as he heard that the Madison discipline was returning to the Olympics in 2020, he was interested.
“Before this year I wasn’t sure if this was my last contract,” the 32-year-old Dimension Data rider said. “And then the Madison was announced and I thought, ‘Right I’m going to go to 2020′.”
Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish on their way to winning the 2016 Madison world title. Photo: Andy Jones
The two-rider Madison will be re-introduced into the list of cycling disciplines for both men and women at the 2020 Olympics after last being run at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. In that Games, Cavendish partnered with Bradley Wiggins in the Madison but did not come away with a medal, to his disappointment.
>>> Madison confirmed to feature at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Cavendish took part in the 2016 Games in the Omnium, where he took silver – his first Olympic medal – behind Italian Elia Viviani. However, an Olympic gold is one of the few things missing from Cavendish’s extensive list of wins.
Cavendish has previously taken the Madison world title twice, in 2008 and 2016, both times with Wiggins. It is unclear who Cavendish would partner in the 2020 Madison – and he would also have to go through the qualification process in order to be selected for the British team.
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Cavendish is currently recuperating after abandoning the Tour de France after crashing heavily on stage four. He clashed with Peter Sagan in the final, high-speed sprint, and ended up with a fractured shoulder blade among his injuries.
He hopes to be back riding for the Tour of Britain (September 3-10), but does not what form he will be in.
“I feel like I can do stuff now, but I don’t want to start only to put my recovery back or end my career,” Cavendish told the Times.
“It’s going to be another three weeks before I can even ride on the road again. I should get back for the Tour of Britain — I love to ride my home race — but being competitive is another thing.”