Mark Cavendish frustrated at Olympic team pursuit cycling snub
Last Updated: 10/08/16 9:57am
Mark Cavendish has expressed frustration at being overlooked for an Olympic team pursuit spot, appearing to accuse "hero" Sir Bradley Wiggins of freezing him out.
Cavendish was ninth in the Madison, alongside Wiggins, at the 2008 Games in Beijing and 29th in the road race on the opening day of London 2012.
The 31-year-old Manxman has won 30 Tour de France stages and is desperate for an Olympic medal.
The six-discipline omnium in which Cavendish has been selected, and placed sixth in at March's Track World Championships in London, is something of a lottery.
And the four-rider, four-kilometres team pursuit offers a surer prospect of a podium place.
But while 2012 Tour winner Wiggins, Ed Clancy, Steven Burke and Owain Doull have had the event as their sole focus for more than a year, Cavendish has not and will likely only ride one of the three rounds if a team-mate is injured or falls ill.
"That's the reason I left the Tour early, because of the team pursuit," said Cavendish.
"[For] the omnium, finishing the Tour would've been a benefit. It's a little bit [disappointing], but it's how it works.
"Especially Brad, he has been super stressed. He wants to be the hero and all that.
"I'm kind of just doing the omnium stuff now. That's what I was aiming for the whole time. The team pursuit's a bonus to that anyway."
Cavendish's comments could reopen old wounds with Wiggins. The pair drifted apart after the Beijing Games, when Cavendish suffered the ignominy of being the only member of the track team not to return with a medal.
Wiggins had been fatigued by his exertions in winning the team pursuit and individual pursuit title before the Madison.
Then it was suggested the peloton conspired against Britain on the opening day of London 2012 in the road race.
"Both times [at Olympics] - it's easy to say 'he's making excuses' - I don't feel like it was my fault," Cavendish added.
"Extraordinary factors meant I didn't get those medals when I had done everything right leading up to them."
