A biography for Mark Cavendishhasn’t been written yet.
“I'm 100% a sprinter... an old school one, not one of these new guys that can climb and sprint.”
“You can believe or you can doubt yourself. It's the difference between a gap being one metre late that you're gonna launch, then it's three seconds and you're sat on the wheel and you're about to lose.”
“I love track racing and I'm proud to be a British cyclist and proud to pull on the jersey to represent my country.”
“If you're winning bike races ahead of guys who're older than you then they're going to get upset. When some young guy appears from nowhere, some people who are slower assume they ride dangerously.”
“I have a house in a small town in Tuscany where everybody knows and looks out for each other. That's a similar mentality to on the Isle of Man.”
“Everybody who rides a motorbike thinks they can ride MotoGP. Anybody who does a Gran Fondo thinks they can do pro cycling. Anyone who drives a Corsa thinks they can do Formula 1.”
“I realised my whole focus each year is about the Tour de France.”
“I don't know why, but despite winning how many world championships, how many Tour stages, and being 31 years old, some people still thought I had to prove myself, you know. So I had to do the Track Worlds to try to prove myself.”
“Second doesn't mean anything in cycling.”
“The way I dig in to push myself through mountain climbs is totally psychological. I'm not designed to do that stuff. It's mind over matter.”
“I constantly do puzzle books. Smash through them. My iPad's full of them. Logic puzzles. Bridges. Slitherlink.”
“If you want a lot of endorsements then you'd pick the Olympics. But I've had a passion for the Tour since I was a kid. Let's put it this way: it would be harder to win a stage on the Tour de France so that would mean more. I'd take the Tour win first - but I'm aiming for both.”
“There's no emotion. I just see the gap and, instinctively, go for it.”
“Training-wise, I don't have an extreme plan I stick to. I know what I have to do, I know the goal. But it's not really structured. That's the beauty of road cycling. It all depends on the conditions on the day and where you are in the world.”
“You concentrate just on yourself. I can't wallow in anything, can't worry about what others are doing.”
“I'm pretty happy with my career. I just know what I'm capable of.”
“I need to be on a bike, mentally as much as physically.”
“Sometimes it can be more tiring with the kids than on the bike but I'm absolutely loving it.”
“If you're on the top for your sport or 10 years it's going to seem like you've had more knock-backs than someone who has been at the top for three years.”
“I started getting into decent food after I got a house in Tuscany, near the British cycling academy's training base. For a cyclist, the area is incredible, with the flats of the basin of Florence, the heights of the Apennines and the small climbs around Chianti.”