Filed under: Cycling
The first of cycling's three Grand Tours begins in Italy this weekend with the sport, not for the first or last time, embroiled in clouds of controversy.Thank goodness - for British cycling fans at least - for Mark Cavendish.
Love him or loathe him, the Manx sprint specialist is a cyclist, a sportsman, whom it is impossible to ignore and about whom it is impossible not to hold an opinion.
Brash, crass, undiplomatic ... or, simply, honest, forthright and misunderstood? The answer is, probably, all of the above at various times in a phenomenal career which has already seen Cavendish, 25, pack more trophies into his cabinet than the vast majority of riders manage in their entire lives.
Heading that list are 15 stage victories in the Tour de France and five in the Giro d'Italia, the 2011 version of which starts tomorrow with a 21.5km team time trial from Venaria Reale to Turin.
In the past, this is the time of the summer that Cavendish has really started to find his sprinting legs and hone the sort of form that sees him hit the Tour de France in July in such unstoppable form, aided, as he is, by an HTC-Highroad team which has been built largely to help deliver Cavendish win opportunities.
Sadly, for the larger cycling public, there are issues other than Cav's form that will pre-occupy thoughts over the three weeks and 21 stages of a Giro which appears, as has often been the case in recent years, to be brutally hard.
The on-going dispute between cycling's governing body the UCI and the professional teams' trade body the AIGCP (Association International des Groupes Cyclistes Professionels) has become increasingly acrimonious in recent weeks and has led to the threat of the teams forming their own breakaway league.
And, inevitably, there is also a doping controversy lurking in the wings.
Reigning Tour de France champion, and 2008 Giro winner, Alberto Contador starts this race as overwhelming favourite ... and a largely unpopular one. His failed drugs test, during last year's Tour, was ignored by his Spanish cycling federation which accepted his explanation that he had ingested clenbuterol via tainted beef and over-turned the ban handed down by the UCI.
Both the UCI and World Anti-Doping Agency have appealed that decision but the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will not rule on that appeal for another two months - a decision is expected before Contador begins his Tour defence on July 2.
Thus, the real possibility exists that Contador will win the Giro and, should he lose the case with CAS, be stripped of it within weeks.
Thank goodness, again, for Cavendish.
The Brit's performances over the sprint stages - which open with a 242km stage two from Alba to Parma on Sunday - will make for compelling watching, as will his Twitter feed, which Cavendish started last week. Having attracted nearly 25,000 followers in a matter of days, Cavendish has been warming up nicely but has so far avoided controversy, apart from minor incidents such as having to apologise for having offended ginger people!
However, as he has shown in numerous post-race interviews, it is only a matter of time before he says something contentious, if honest, which will stir the mix.
And then there is the not-inconsiderable matter of Cavendish's own future. His contract with HTC-Highroad expires this year and the Manxman has already (controversially, of course) hinted that he will not renew with the team because of concerns at their lack of cash.
The sport's "bible" Cycling Weekly has already started the rumour mill turning nicely with a lengthy, speculative piece about where he might ride next season and how much he can expect to earn - the consensus seeming to be, inevitably, the British Team Sky and a basic 1.5 million euros (£1.3 million) per year, respectively.
Riders and teams are not allowed to discuss signings until August 1, after the Tour de France, although it is safe to assume that talks with Cavendish's next employer are well advanced.
In the meantime, hopefully, it will be Cavendish's form on the bike, rather than controversies off it, that will hog the cycling headlines.
Just don't bet on it.
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Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/05/06/cycling-mark-cavendish-a-welcome-distraction-as-giro-ditalia-g/
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