Sporting Heroes Month: Mark Cavendish
By Will Stroude
In association with MaxiNutrition.
A former BBC Sports Personality of the Year and widely considered to be the fastest road cyclist in the world, no list of Sporting Heroes wouldn’t be complete without the Isle of Man’s Mark Cavendish…
Top Sporting Achievement: During his illustrious career, the 29-year-old has won twenty-five stages of the Tour de France!
Better Half: He married former glamour model Peta Dodd in 2013. The couple have daughter together, Delilah Grace Cavendish.
Best Attribute: Unarguably the legs: After years of cycling Mark is the owner of perfectly toned, muscular pins.
Sporting Quote: “I won 11 races last year…with six weeks out with injury, it’s not bad you know”. Yeah, probably can’t disagree with that one Mark.
Special Weapon: His mental focus. He explained that when it comes to training: “Always train. It’s easy when you’re young not to go out if it’s wet, or windy, but I grew up on the Isle of Man. It rained 300 days a year there so I had no option but to go out in the rain and freezing cold.”
Style: When he’s out the cycling lycra, Mark tends to go for a relaxed look of for chinos, vans and snapbacks.
Training Tip: Mark spends around 30-40 hours training per week – and that’s just on his bike. He also does core work and upper body exercises for supportive strength (you know, just in the spare time).
In The Game: Widely considered to be the fastest road cyclist in the world, the former track cyclist’s specialty is the road sprint.
Wins: Tour de France: Points Classification: (2011)
25 Individual stages (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
Giro d’italia: Points Classification: (2013)
15 individual stages (2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013)
Vuelta a Espana: Points Classification: (2010)
3 Individual stages (2010)
Stage Races: Ster ZLM Toer (2012)
Tour of Qatar (2013)
Dubai Tour (2015
One-day races: UCI Road World Championships (2011)
Milan – San Remo (2009)
Grote Scheldeprijs (2007, 2008, 2011)
Kuurrne-Brussels-Kuurne (2012, 2015)
National Road Race Championships (2013)
Attitude: When asked about the best advice he had ever received, Mark replied, “Enjoy it. It’s the simplest one, but it really is. If you don’t enjoy something you can’t keep at it. That’s the thing that sticks with me.”