Mark Cavendish He's a veteran. So much so that he even raced with Marco Villa. Okay, we didn't mean to say the rider was old, but we wanted to show how long the Englishman has been with the team. On the road and on the track.
With Villa, we talk about Cav and this kid who 17 years ago, even before being a pro, suddenly arrived on the parquet and who last Sunday won his sixteenth stage at the Tour of Italy and the number 160 in career (on the road). And who knows, maybe today, towards Messina, I can touch up these numbers.
Marco, you and Cavendish met…
Well yes. I was at the end of my career and he was at the beginning. And now I continue to meet him as a technician.
What memories does the Villa rider have of Cav?
That was fast! It was obvious right away. He was fast, but he also had endurance qualities. And T-Track had the foresight to take him in right away. He was a kid.
When you stood shoulder to shoulder, did he feel awestruck or did he give no concessions to anyone?
He wasn't shy. Cavendish knew how to defend himself, he had a strong character and he moved well. And in fact his career says it all. He won world championships on the track and on the road (Copenhagen 2011, in the opening photo, ed.), he has the stage record won at Tour de FranceI feel sorry for those two or three years when it seemed like nobody wanted him. It seemed a bit disrespectful to meBut with his character he was able to hold on. One thing about him struck me.
What?
In 2016 he won four stages at the Tour having prepared for the track. Then he went to Rio and if he didn't find a super Viviani would have won the Olympics. Once the Olympics are over he recovers, goes to the World Cup and if he doesn't meet a certain History he also wins the world championship. "This one, when he's going strong, struggles to finish second.
What's your first memory of him? The anecdote...
Suddenly, I found these Englishmen on the track going fast. They started winning everything, and Mark was part of it, with the difference that he was also fast on the road.
Did you expect to see him still out there the other day?
Yes,” Villa replies dryly, “and he’s now a true master of that type of sprint. He takes the lead and no one follows him. He has a different system than the other sprinters. Clearly, net of the excellent work of Morkov and his teammates. Cav starts out wide and no one can catch him.
Different system: explain it better…
I don't have his stats, but for me it's different from what I've seen. The other sprinters start at 100% and try to go as far as possible. Mark, on the other hand, for me starts at 80% and makes constant progress. A progression that deceives those behind him. The guy behind him thinks he's going to overtake him, but then when he gets alongside, he catches some air and stays there while he continues to accelerate. And that's what sets him apart from other sprinters. The others start off strong: if they hold up, good; if they slow down, they get overtaken.
Yet on the straight last Sunday, at a certain point it seemed like it was too long, that it could be skipped…
When he leaves He knows exactly where the finish line is and does everything he can to get there 100%. He rarely makes mistakes.
And what about his position? He was a "revolutionary" in that sense. Maybe a little ugly to look at, with his butt up high and his shoulders pressed against the handlebars, but certainly effective.
It was the position of the English. They on marginal gain They worked on it right away and refined it all. Cav was among the first to adopt this position and bring it to the road, and as a result, the others had to adapt too. Elia also worked on it a lot. He worked on the position for the omnium, for the flying lap... until he brought it to the road.
The other day, as I mentioned, he seemed to have a very high cadence, almost as if he were jamming: these days we tend to use longer gears, does this also apply to him? Or has Cav stuck with 53?
No, he certainly had the right relationship. Especially since he's in that team (the Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl). If the final straight was going downhill, they knew it and he had the right gear. No, no… there's no going back, it's not about having long or short gears, but about having the right ones.
What do you like about him, Marco?
Well, Villa thinks for a moment, his career. Winning on the road and on the track, that record at the Tour... I know him well; he's a friend. Calling him a legend might be inappropriate, but with what he's done, he's certainly close. Without a doubt he is one of the strongest of this modern era. And then, guys, it seemed like it was over and last year he took home all those successes from France.
But the team also matters a lot. And for someone like him, it also matters for the climbs, for reaching the sprint, or for taking home the green jersey (or the points classification)...
The team is super important for all sprinters, not just Mark. Not to mention the train, many times the flagship's wake alone isn't enough.Maybe having two companions nearby helps you not to get lost, you can take the next climb with the first group and you can arrive better in the maximum time. And this is even more true when the climbs are at the beginning. And he knows this well, so much so that When he realised that Sky was only focusing on the general rankings, he looked for space elsewhere, even though he was English and very fond of that group.
