Cavendish puts team ethic first

Mark Cavendish insists he will go into this year’s Tour de France with different priorities as he looks to help Bradley Wiggins win the gruelling event (Wiggins 23/20 Tour de France Outright with bet365).

The Isle of Man star has become known for his sprinting ability and has already claimed 20 stages of the prestigious race, taking the green jersey as the best sprinter 12 months ago.

But, with the London Olympics on the horizon, the 27-year-old has altered his training regime this year and will go into the world’s toughest road race 4kg lighter than in previous years.

The changes to his body mean that Cavendish will no longer be as effective in the sprints and will probably not win as many stages this year (Cavendish Under 1.5 Stage Wins 2/1 with bet365).

But the controversial star feels that he will be able to feature at the front of the pack for longer during the race with greater endurance.

“I was always famed for how fast I was in the sprint,” he said. “I’m not quite that fast any more but I can get to a lot more finishes than I could in the past.”

Team Sky team-mate Wiggins is a genuine contender to win the overall event this year and Cavendish admits that he will be doing all he can to aid the 32-year-old’s chances of taking the yellow jersey.

“I always had a team dedicated to me but now we’re going with the biggest realistic opportunity to win the yellow jersey,” he added.

“It’s a reality, a British rider is favourite to win the Tour de France. We have to embrace it.”

Wiggins is credible Tour threat – Bruyneel

Bradley Wiggins (3/1 Tour de France – To Win Outright with bet365) has made himself a credible Tour de France contender with his Paris-Nice victory, according to seven-time champion Lance Armstrong‘s former mentor Johan Bruyneel.

The Team Sky leader demonstrated a combination of guts and composure to claim one of the biggest wins of his career on the road when he took the final stage uphill time trial to defeat Dutchman Lieuwe Westra by eight seconds.

The nature of Wiggins’ win in the final time trial, a 9.6-km dash to the Col d’Eze on Sunday, suggested the 2008 Olympic pursuit champion still had plenty left in the tank after a week of climbing and racing in the wind and cold.

He became the first Briton to win the week-long ‘Race to the Sun’ since Tom Simpson in 1967. The late Simpson never won the Tour, but Wiggins has plenty going in his favour this year – according to Bruyneel.

“It’s obvious that this Tour will favour Wiggins much more than the last two editions,” said the Radioshack-Nissan team manager, who guided Lance Armstrong to his seven Tour titles and Alberto Contador to his 2007 and 2009 triumphs on the French roads.

Contador’s absence, a strong team and a few lessons learnt mean that Wiggins will have the biggest chance of his career to win the greatest cycling race in the world.

“You cannot win the Tour de France if you also want to win the Dauphine (a few weeks earlier),” Bruyneel told Reuters, referring to Wiggins’s victory in last year’s Criterium du Dauphine.

This year’s Tour will feature 101.5 kms of time trials, compared with 65.5 last year and 60.9 in 2009, a great asset for Wiggins while it should dramatically reduce the chances of former runner-up Andy Schleck (15/4 with bet365), a pure climber who has always struggled against the clock.

And reigning champion Cadel Evans (7/4) readily admits that he is in nowhere near the form he was in at this stage last year when he was preparing his incredible assault on the yellow jersey – that he clinched in the big time-trial and held through to Paris.

The Australian is all but resigned to losing his Tirreno-Adriatico title, having lost over ten minutes to stage winner Vincenzo Nibali (33/1) on Sunday.

Voeckler lead is cut

Thomas Voeckler (22/1 with bet365 To Win Outright) has made it eight days with the Tour de France yellow jersey, but the Frenchman’s lead has been cut to 27 seconds.

It was Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen, riding for Team Sky, who secured the latest stage victory in Pinerolo on Wednesday.

Boasson Hagen, having been edged out in sprint finish on Tuesday, picked up his second stage of the Tour after proving the strongest in the final climb on day 17.

In the battle to win the title, Australian Cadel Evans is the nearest challenger to leader Voeckler who now has an advantage of one minute 18 seconds.

Meanwhile, Mark Cavendish (3/20 Points Classification Outright) enjoyed another successful day as he held on to the sprinter’s green jersey and extended his lead on his closest challenger Jose Joaquin Rojas.

The Isle of Man speedster is on 320 points, a 35-point advantage over Rojas with four stages remaining. Philippe Gilbert is third on 250 points.

HTC-Highroad’s rivals learning and catching up

Mark Cavendish may face a bigger challenge that in previous years to win stages of the 2011 Tour de France as other teams have studied the tactics of him and his team.

That is the view of Cavendish’s HTC-Highroad lead-out man Mark Renshaw, who is regarded on the professional cycling circuit as the best in the business. Those looking at the Tour de France promotions will be keeping a close eye on things.

Cavendish has won 15 Tour de France stages throughout his career, four in 2008, six in 2009 and five in 2010, and continually proves to be the fastest sprinter in the world, despite never managing to win the Green Jersey competition to date.

This means coming into any flat sprint finish fans will see the HTC-Highroad team taking to the front going into the closing stages, with Cavendish perfectly positioned at the back of that lead-out train ready to burst out in the final metres.

One reason the Isle of Man rider could struggle for wins in the 2011 Tour de France is the lack of flat stage finishes perfect for sprinting, as they are only three really suited to a bunch sprint, but Renshaw reckons the other teams have examined HTC-Highroad and could rival them this year and those looking to place Tour de France bets should remember this.

“I’m sure the teams have studied how we ride. It’s no secret, they’re catching up. But hopefully we can come back and win,” Cavendish’s colleague said.

The Green Jersey competition has been redesigned for the 2011 Tour de France, with only one intermediate sprint during the stages and bigger point gaps for placing on flat stages, but stage wins are likely to be more important to Cavendish than winning the sprinters’ competition.

Schleck hails team Tour effort

Andy Schleck remains one of the leading contenders to win the Tour de France and he reckons the togetherness among his Leopard-Trek team will be beneficial going through the race.

The Luxembourg rider has won two stages of the Tour de France and has finished second to Alberto Contador in the general classification in the last two years.

In 2010 he finished the race only 39 seconds behind the Spanish yellow jersey winner and he will be determined to go one better in this year’s Tour de France. He will have attracted plenty of Tour de France bets.

Schleck left team Team Saxo Bank at the end of 2010 – the outfit replaced him with Contador – to form the brand-new Luxembourg-based team Leopard Trek and he brought with him a number of cyclists who had helped him to the podium in the last two Tour de France. The Tour de France best odds indicate he is set to do well again.

The 26-year-old will lead the team, with his reliable deputy and older brother Frank riding alongside him, and any ambitions he has to win this year’s Tour de France will need him to rely on the strong band of riders he lured from Contador’s Team Saxo Bank

Schleck under-performed in the Tour de Suisse but reckons Leopard-Trek have shown they are a “solid team” that will come together in the Tour de France.

He added: “We have good chemistry. This is important when we are fighting to win the Tour.”

Two-time runner-up Cadel Evans is another man looking to improve and win the general classification of the Tour de France.

His BMC team are also a strong outfit and will do everything they can to help Evans pip defending champion Contador to that yellow jersey come the final ride into Paris.

Cavendish in great shape for Tour

Mark Cavendish is looking good and ready to go out and secure more Tour de France stage victories, according to his team’s director.

The Isle of Man rider has won 15 stages of the Tour de France over the last four years and the man dubbed the ‘fastest man on two wheels’ will look to add to that when the 2011 race gets underway next month.

It might not be an easy feat though as only six stages finish on flat terrain, which is perfect for Cavendish and his usual lead-out train. He might not be so suited to the other uphill finishes on stages where a sprint looks a likely outcome and those looking at the Tour de France best odds should remember this.

Cavendish failed to win any of the sprint stages on the recent Tour of Switzerland but HTC-Highroad sporting director Allan Peiper has stated his team has no concerns about this and still have all their faith in the 26-year-old going into the Tour de France, which runs from July 2th-25th.

Peiper told AFP the Tour de France is the “most important race” for HTC-Highroad and Cavendish, with the Isle of Man rider looking impressive in preparations for the race.

“Mark rises to the occasion and obviously for a rider like him who is expected to perform all year round it’s difficult to live up to those expectations all the time,” he added.

“At this point, he looks really good. As good as I’ve seen him this year and probably better than he’s been in the last years going in to the Tour.”

The majority of the Tour de France teams have starting naming their squads for the race in recent weeks, with the Quick-Step Cycling team making it public knowledge they are looking for stage wins, so plenty of Tour de France bets will no doubt reflect this.

Sports Director Wilfried Peeters said on unveiling their experienced Tour de France squad they have named three specific riders who are capable of rivalling Cavendish and winning sprints “should the occasion arise”.

Martin wants to rival Tour big boys

HTC Highroad rider Tony Martin is planning to battle with the big boys at the Tour de France and wants a top ten finish this summer.

The 26-year-old German rider has enjoyed a successful 2011 so far and he won the time trial of the Dauphine in Grenoble this week. Those following the Tour de France promotions will have been impressed by his efforts.

Most riders are using the Dauphine as a warm-up for the Tour de France and Martin should take some confidence from the fact the 42.5km time trial course he was victorious on is the same one the riders will tackle on the penultimate Tour de France stage in July and anyone looking at the Tour de France best odds should remember this.

Martin has ridden the last two Tours, finishing 35th in 2009 and 137th in 2010, and has shown his ability in the time trial stages, with two second places in both prologue and time trials behind Fabian Cancellara.

The rider reckons he can rival Cancellara and Alberto Contador on the road this time around and he is also hoping for an improved performance during the mountain stages of the Tour and is targeting the “top ten overall” in the race.

Martin said: “I’m still in the process of building my condition for the Tour de France.

“To win it is a really big confidence booster for me, but I know that I’ll have to go a little bit faster at the Tour de France.”

Omega Pharma-Lotto Jurgen Van den Broeck, who is a climber rather that a time trial racer, is also competing in the Dauphine and holds the polka dot jersey of best climber.

He reckons recent performances on the road are “encouraging in view of the Tour” and this has given him “confidence” looking forward to July’s big race.

Will Dauphine give riders an advantage for Tour?

Many riders may see the Criterium du Dauphine as a perfect warm-up race for the Tour de France, but there are equally as many who will not be pushing themselves as they are already looking ahead to July’s big race.

The 1,064-kilometre seven-stage race runs until June 12th and virtually all the teams will be using it as a scouting mission – as part of the Criterium du Dauphine route is the same that the world’s top riders will be covering in the Tour de France in July. Anyone placing Tour de France bets should keep an eye on the race to see who is in form.

All the build up to the race has been dominated by the news regarding Alberto Contador being able to defend his title in controversial circumstances as his doping tribunal with the Court for Arbitration in Sport has been delayed until after the Tour de France.

The sight of Contador on the starting line-up of this summer’s Tour will surely rankle many riders, especially his main Tour de France contenders such as Cadel Evans and Andy Schleck, and there will be many riders looking to knock the Spaniard off his perch and those looking at the Tour de France promotions need to remember this.

It could be said that those riding the Criterium du Dauphine will have an advantage as they know some of the roads, but the Tour is such a long and arduous sporting feat that such a tiny bit of knowledge will not make much difference.

Team Sky rider Geraint Thomas is one of those taking part in the pre-Tour race, with his main aim being helping Bradley Wiggins, another who will be fancying his chances come July, achieve success.

Thomas is using the Dauphine as a training exercise before tackling the Tour, stating: “The race is like a mini Tour de France, there’s four uphill finishes so it’s definitely a tough race and a good test before the Tour.”

RadioShack rider Janez Brajkovic is the defending champion of the Criterium du Dauphine, but he said this year he does not want to “give everything” in the race in order to ensure he is in prime fitness for the Tour de France.

Contador given Tour reprieve

Reigning Tour de France champion Alberto Contador has been boosted by the news that he will be able to compete at this year’s event, after his doping case was postponed until August. The three-time Tour winner had been due to hear whether or not the Court of Arbitration for Sport were going to overturn the Spanish cycling federation’s decision to clear the rider, following his positive clenbuterol test after last year’s race. Although the 28-year-old has maintained he consumed the drug through contaminated beef, the signs were not looking good for the Spaniard and the Tour de France odds suggested he was not likely to take part.

The case was due to be heard last week but has now been postponed allowing Contador to defend his title when the Tour commences at the beginning of next month. The uncertainty surrounding Contador’s participation in the Tour de France, prompted the Saxo Bank-SunGard rider to pull out all the stops in last month’s successful Giro d’Italia. Winning the prestigious race will have done plenty for Contador’s confidence but how much it has taken out of the Spaniard’s body remains to be seen.

Leaving the decision until such a late stage hasn’t gone down well with many in the sport, in Italy though Contador seems to have managed to separate himself from the issue. The Spaniard was in dominant form throughout the race and the overall victory was well deserved. While not everyone will be pleased to see the controversial rider lining up next month, Contador will surely be one of, if not the standout favourite to win the race for the fourth time.

Horner focusing on the Tour de France

Chris Horner claimed perhaps the most important victory of his career by winning the Amgen Tour of California. The RadioShack rider has spent years training on the roads used in the race and the victory carried a lot of nostalgia with it for the 39-year-old. With this win under his belt, Horner will now switch his focus to next month’s Tour de France, once again looking for that elusive podium finish.

Last year’s 10th place finish was Horner’s best ever result at the Tour de France and that will have given the veteran plenty of confidence of pushing on this year.

The form that Horner and his RadioShack team showed during the Tour of California will only boost that self belief. Horner and Levi Leipheimer were the two team leaders and that will most likely be the team’s tactic next month, in the sport’s showpiece race. Those looking at the Tour de France betting should bear this in mind.

Both riders certainly showed signs that they could certainly be among the challengers next month. Once Horner claimed the overall race lead then he never looked like giving it up. The highlight coming in the punishing mountainous stage four win in which both RadioShack riders claimed the top-two places with Horner the victor.

Horner has admitted he won’t be participating in next weekend’s USA Pro Cycling Championships, instead focusing on preparing for the Tour de France in July. His team will be doing all they can to keep their best riders safe and fit between now and the start of the biggest race in the calendar.