Tour de France: Mark Cavendish determined to make it to Paris
By Matt Westby
Last Updated: 17/07/16 5:23pm
Mark Cavendish says he is determined to remain at the Tour de France all the way to its finale in Paris and resist the temptation to start his preparation for the Olympic Games early.
The 31-year-old Manxman will represent Great Britain on the track in the omnium in Rio on August 14-15 and his coaches previously stated he should leave the Tour mid-race in order to maximise his chances of winning a medal.
But having claimed four victories in the opening 14 stages, Cavendish is enjoying his best Tour since 2011 and has two more sprints to look forward to, on stage 16 on Monday and on the Champs-Elysees on stage 21 on July 24.
Should he win both, he will move on to 32 Tour career stage victories and to within two of Eddy Merckx's all-time record of 34.
Cavendish said: "There's two more sprint opportunities, I think. Monday in Bern is not an easy sprint, but it's a sprint and it's Nelson Mandela Day, so it's a big thing for the team.
"Then there is a rest day four days before Paris, so I may as well try. I've said I'm not going to put myself over the edge, so if I get sick or fall off I won't, but I'm in good shape, the team is in good morale, so I will carry on as long as I can."
Cavendish hadn't been expected to be at his best at the Tour after spending much of the past nine months training on the track.
But instead, he has produced some of the best form of his career to regularly beat Marcel Kittel, who was previously regarded as the No 1 sprinter in the world.
Cavendish added: "A lot of people ask me if going back to the track has made a difference in my results compared to the previous years, but not really.
"I'm exactly the same physically. I've been refreshed by riding on the track again, but the key point is that I'm more patient than last year.
"We've seen it today. Following my instinct, I would have jumped earlier, but when I saw Marcel Kittel taking the lead with only four guys 2km before the end, I understood it would kill him ultimately. I just had to wait for him to lose some speed."
The Tour continues on Sunday with a mountainous, 160km 15th stage from Bourg-en-Bresse to Culoz. Find out more about the route in our race guide and follow the stage with our live blog from 12pm BST.
