• Cycling

Cavendish triumphs on London 2012 course

ESPN staff
August 14, 2011
Mark Cavendish: 'Today gives no indication of what will happen at London 2012' © PA Photos
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Mark Cavendish showed why he is one of Britain's leading medal contenders for London 2012 by triumphing on a shortened version of the route planned for next year's Olympic road race.

Cavendish, who claimed the green jersey for the best sprinter at this year's Tour de France, triumphed ahead of Italy's Sacha Modolo and Frenchman Samuel Dumoulin in the 140 kilometres London-Surrey Cycle Classic.

"It's nice to win but today gives me no indication about what will happen at London 2012," said Cavendish. "The difference between the outcome of the race between two laps of Box Hill and nine [the number for the Olympics] is huge. This was never going to be a realistic taste of how the Olympic road race will go and we all knew that.

"I'm just very happy to win and the [British] team did a great job for me. It's a spectacular result for them. We've got an incredible group of guys, the strongest team we've ever had, and it bodes well for the world road race and the Olympics."

A crash in the closing stages disrupted the bunch sprint but had no effect on Cavendish, who burst away from a group of 20 to cross the finish line first, displaying all of his trademark speed.

Cavendish is searching for a new team to ride for next year following the collapse of the HTC-Highroad outfit. It is expected that the Manx Missile will join fellow Olympic hopeful Bradley Wiggins at Team Sky.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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