Mark Cavendish Chats to Sporza

In an interview with Sporza, Mark Cavendish says “ideally, I would rather just ride my bike” and admits talking openly makes him nervous

Mark Cavendish Chats to Sporza

In a Sporza video interview with Mark Cavendish (link below), he starts by saying “it has been a while since I won, and its a headline when I don’t win and its a bit asburd to be fair. Ninety five percent of riders never win a race in their life but I have to take it as a compliment”.

When the interviewer says to Mark,”the expectations are high but I think they are the highest in your body, in your head, about what you want to achieve this year”. Mark responds to this by saying “the problem is, I can’t say much to you because I do an interview with you and you see these like little cycling websites will take quotes from them and make a headline piece of a quote that is not really anything to do with it and that is the stuff I can’t really deal with anymore.”

“I don’t like it and it affects my mental health that stuff and so I’m afraid I can’t really be that open anymore because I have to figure not just what I say to you but what a little sneaky little … they take out of that whole interview and make a whole different piece from it with a headline and that and it’s a bit bullshit really, and stops me opening up like I used to”.

The interviewer responds by saying “its a pity to hear that” to which Mark says “don’t get me wrong, it’s part of the profession of being a professional sportsman, but those things have a big impact on my mental health and I get real nervous about those things nowadays and I’d just rather ride my bike.”

The interviewer then recalls a moment in the past, saying to Mark, “10 years ago I gave you a present after you won a Tour stage. I asked you if you like the Haribo sweets and gave you a bunch of Dragibus, do you still want them?” Mark replied “I’m okay thanks; it’s harder for me these days to lose weight. You know what its like when you turn 30 and all of a sudden its like “well, I don’t get so fit as quick anymore and it takes that little bit longer to lose the weight and a little bit longer to get the fitness so I tend to stay away from them. I really appreciate the offer and maybe I’ll give them to some of the boys if you have them.” (in the second half of the video interview, Mark is presented with the sweets for his teammates).

The next question for Mark is about the Nokere race he crashed in this week. When asked before the race what he knows about it, Mark replies “I’ve never done it. I’ve done other races like it and I’ve trained on the roads”… ‘cobblestones’ says the interviewer … “I love cobblestones” says Mark. “I don’t mind cobblestones.”

Post race after Mark crashed on the cobblestones, the interviewer says “I can see it was a hard day at work today to which Mark replies “yes, but I love it, honestly like, that was a full on race today. We had some bad luck. The crash was my own fault. I just caught the lip of the cobblestone and I went down and that happens, it was an amateur mistake, and if some one else did it, you’d laugh at them for doing it.”

The interviewer then says, “don’t get me wrong Mark, but is there still something to prove for you as a sportsman, “I don’t think there is anything to prove” Mark replies. “I have pretty much won everything… as my capacity as a sprinter, for instance, if Gent Wevelegem was how Gent Wevelgem used to be, for sure I’d still have that but its not the same race as it used to be, it’s not the same race as when Cipollini won it, it is a completely different race.”

“Who’s f….ing business is it if I stop except for my own? It’s mine and my family’s choice how long I do this for. I don’t have to prove anything to f…ing anybody really.”

To finish, and not part of the interview, Mark sums up his love of Belgian racing on his instagram account, saying “Love it so much. Just racing. No staring at how many watts you need to hold. No working out an order of which team sits behind which in the peloton. No real prediction of how the race will unfold. Just pure, start to finish bike racing”.

View the video interview with Mark, in English, here on Sporza: