Can Cavendish take cycle race gold?

The cycling road race, on the first full day of Olympic competition at London 2012, promises to be one of the best spectacles of the Games.

Some 150 cyclists will set off from the Mall at 10 o’clock on Saturday morning at the start of a 120km route that crosses six London boroughs and four royal parks.

At the heart of the event is Box Hill, in Surrey, which competitors must loop nine times before heading back to the Mall.

It will also showcase some of London’s best-known landmarks. Buckingham Palace will form the backdrop to the start and end of the race.

And if you failed to glimpse Hampton Court as the Olympic torch began its final leg down the Thames before Friday’s opening ceremony, you can catch it twice during the road race.

Cycling on a high

After last week’s British triumph at the Tour de France, it is fitting that the road race should occupy such a prominent place in the opening day’s events at London 2012.

Cycling in Britain has never been so popular, both as a professional pursuit and a hobby. Bradley Wiggins’s success in Tour merely confirmed that British biking is enjoying a golden age.

Chris Boardman’s track pursuit gold at the 1992 Barcelona Games was an early sign of future glory. Eight years later, in Sydney, Jason Queally took gold in the 1km time trial. The 2004 Athens Games saw victories for Bradley Wiggins and Chris Hoy – Wiggins in the pursuit and Hoy in the 1k time trial.

But it was in Beijing that British cycling came of age. Team GB was dominant, securing eight gold medals, including wins for Victoria Pendleton and Nicole Cook. Chris Hoy achieved gold in three velodrome events.

Read more: Where to watch Britain's Olympic cyclists hit the road

Combative methods

Another Briton, Mark Cavendish, is among the favourites to win 2012 road race gold.

In fact Cavendish, from the Isle of Man, was conspicuous by his absence from the victory podium in the 2008 Games, and was the only British track cyclist not to win a medal.

His combative methods have nonetheless allowed him to dominate the sprint stages of the Tour de France in recent years, and he is currently world road champion.

In 2008 Cavendish told France’s Velo magazine: “When journalists at the Tour de France ask me if I am the best sprinter, I answer yes.”

But his arrogance was vindicated three years later when he became the first Britain to win the “maillot vert” (green jersey), awarded each year to the best sprinter in the Tour.

His triumph at the end of the 2012 Tour de France means Cavendish has now won a total of 23 Tour stages in his career, placing him fourth in the all-time table of stage wins.

Read more: Allez le Gentlemen Wiggans

Team event

Some have interpreted Cavendish’s relatively low-key performances at this year’s Tour as a sign that the Manxman was saving himself for the additional challenge of London 2012.

Others – Cavendish included – have pointed out that road cycling is a team event and that it is not always possible for the same person to be the focus of his colleagues’ support.

“He (Bradley Wiggins) helped me win the world championship, and I’m helping him win the yellow jersey,” Cavendish told reporters as the 2012 Tour approached its final week. “.. So if I can do my fair share to help, the guys who’ll be needed in the last week can save themselves as much as possible.”

In the same interview, he compared a cycling team to a machine where “you find the most efficient way to win a bike race”.

Cavendish’s team at the London 2012 road race will include Wiggins, as well as Chris Froome (another 2012 Tour de France success, finishing second behind Wiggins), David Millar and Ian Stannard – and this time the focus will be on Cavendish.

It all means that if the “Manx missile” can survive the rigours of Box Hill and return to the Mall in the leading group, his chances of gold will be high.

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