Marc Cavendish Track Cyclist
Mark Cavendish is a relative newcomer to the world of road cycle racing. He began his cycling career on the track, racing in a number of different sprinting events. His early successes include Gold medals at the 2005 European Championships, the World Championships, and at the 2006 Commonwealth games.
Mark Cavendish Road Cyclist
In 2006, Mark Cavendish moved away from track cycling for the higher profile world of Road Cycling. He excelled early on winning two stages at the Tour of Berlin and claiming the Sprinter’s Jersey. This success allowed him to land a spot on one of the big-name tour teams, Team T-Mobile. With T-Mobile, he won the Sprinter’s Jersey in the Tour of Britain. A rising star, Mark Cavendish was selected to ride in the 2007 Tour de France.
Marc Cavendish in the 2007 Tour de France
The Tour de France is the biggest, and many would say toughest road race in the world, and Marc Cavendish learned it the hard way. His 2007 campaign was marked by two early crashes that left him battered. Although many thought he would abandon the race in the high mountain stages, he was forced to abandon even earlier than that as his injuries proved too much at the end of stage 8.
Marc Cavendish with Team Columbia
In 2008, Marc Cavendish joined up with the newly formed American team, Team Columbia. Now a star sprint cyclist, Team Columbia included several riders who could ride in support of Cavendish, including Lance Armstrong’s former road captain, George Hincappe. In the 2008 Giro de Italia (road cycling’s second biggest race) Cavendish won two sprint stages. Many people were declaring him the fasted man on a bike.
Marc Cavendish in the 2008 Tour de France
With many people thinking that Cavendish would pull out of the 2008 Tour de France early in order to train for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, the pressure was on both Cavendish and Team Columbia to secure an early stage victory. Although it took a few days, Cavendish sprinted to an impressive stage 5 victory. He then did it again in stage 8. With the Pyrenees looming, talk was rife that Cavendish would pull out of the race. He rode through the mountains, not impressively, but good enough. Then, hurting and running out of energy, Team Columbia shot him forward and set him up for yet another win in stage 12 and again in stage 13. Mark Cavendish is the first British rider to ever win four stages in one Tour de France.
Joseph Allen McCullough - Joseph A. McCullough was born in the town of Greensboro, NC, site of the Battle of Guildford Courthouse. In 1994, he graduated from the ...
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