Mark Cavendish can lead Team GB cycling charge at Olympics
Published:With the Olympic Games fast approaching, much confidence in Team GB’s gold medal hopes is emanating from cycling events, with Mark Cavendish 7/4 to claim the men’s road race.
Sprinter Cavendish enjoyed a hugely successful 2011, being named the Road World Champion for the year, as well as BBC Sports Personality of the Year in the aftermath of him claiming the green jersey at the Tour de France.
This year though, Cavendish has turned his focus to the Olympic Games, which he will be competing in for the first time at London 2012, telling reporters, “I haven’t got my eyes on green, to be honest, but there’s always a chance.”
His sentiments were echoed by Team GB’s cycling head Dave Brailsford meanwhile, who added, “The green jersey comes around every year but a home Olympic Games comes once in a lifetime.”
That said, Cavendish is preparing to launch an assault on the sprinters’ finale in Paris on Sunday, a race which he has recorded victories in for the past three years consecutively.
Another success this weekend would take him to 22 Tour stage triumphs in total, seeing him move to fourth on the all-time list in the company of greats such as Lance Armstrong, which must be a great incentive for the 27-year-old.
However, the priority remains securing the yellow jersey for Team Sky team-mate Bradley Wiggins, who will also compete in London this summer.
Wiggins, widely expected to become the Tour de France’s first ever British winner, is 5/4 favourite to land the men’s time trial event, whilst the men’s pursuit team he will compete in are favoured at 19/20 to triumph too.
Geraint Thomas will team with Wiggins in this event, and should he repeat his gold medal victory of four years ago in the chase, he will become only the fourth Welshman in history to be a multiple-time Olympic gold medalist.
Such a pedigree in cycling events would seem to bode extremely well for Team GB’s hopes of a gold medal in at least one of the sport’s events at London 2012.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
