MUSCAT: Mark Cavendish, the fast- est road sprinter in the world, rates Australian Tour of Qatar winner and teammate Mark Renshaw as one of the most ‘‘successful team riders’’ in the sport, and is still adamant that the NSW cyclist was wronged by his disqualification from the Tour de France last year.
If anything, Cavendish believes that Renshaw’s ride that led to his exclusion from the Tour for his manoeuvring in the final metres of stage 11 won by the ‘‘Manx Missile’’ typifies the Bathurst-born cyclist’s selfless commitment to his role as the British superstar’s lead-out rider for the bunch sprints.
Renshaw (HTC-Highroad), with Cavendish on his wheel, was seen headbutting New Zealand rival Jul- ian Dean (then Garmin-Slipstream) as the Kiwi was trying to bring his American sprinter, Tyler Farrar, up to a prime place near the front. After that clash with Dean, who leant on Renshaw and seemingly impeded him as well, the Australian then appeared to cut off Farrar on the left of the finishing straight while Cav- endish bolted away to win. Ren- shaw, who had never been penalised or warned for dangerous or illegal antics in a sprint, was disqualified from the Tour altogether.
While Renshaw was distraught, Cavendish was dumbfounded, and he clearly still disagrees with the race jury’s decision.