Why is cavendish not in the olympics

It now seems a little too late for Mark Cavendish to be riding at Tokyo, even though the Olympic Games have been delayed until What happens next for Cav seems to be shrouded in mystery, with Mark himself stating that he wants to finish the season off and then focus on a ride for next year. We want to see him go out on a high. No one really expected it either, he never stated this was going to be his last year. Brailsford, come on! We always welcome those who need a hand in achieving their goals.

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After winning Stage 4 on Tuesday to start his unexpected comeback to the top, the best sprinter in the history of the race took a step closer to Belgian great Eddy Merckx's record of 34 stage wins. Cavendish, after a bout of depression and several seasons of struggles on and off the bike, secured a new contract with his former Deceuninck-Quick Step team for the season. The year-old veteran convinced manager Patrick Lefevere he could perform at the top level again, but he was not expected to ride at the Tour and did not train specifically for the three-week race.

Cavendish, known as the Manx Missile, received a late call-up last month as a replacement for Sam Bennett, the best sprinter of last year's Tour.

In addition to Merckx's record, Cavendish's next goal will be to win the best sprinter's green jersey in Paris. In Chateauroux, Cavendish was led out in the final stretch by his teammates and edged Jasper Philipsen and Nacer Bouhanni. Mathieu van der Poel kept the race leader's yellow jersey at the end of the The main contenders enjoyed a quiet day in the peloton, conserving energy for the Alpine stages this weekend.

There were no significant changes in the overall standings. With several one-day classic specialists among them capable of riding at full-speed for hours -- Olympic champion Greg Van Avermaet, Kasper Asgreen, Nils Politt, and Soren Kragh Andersen -- the peloton could not give them too much leeway.

The pack finally slowed down as the Belgian rider was joined by Roger Kluge but kept them on a leash of under two minutes. Cavendish has made a return to the track this winter, competing in the London and Ghent Six Day events, but has been coy when asked whether he hopes to fight for gold in Tokyo next season. The year-old has a silver medal from the Omnium at the Rio games, when he missed out to Italian rival Elia Viviani.

Viviani has been progressing quickly on the track this winter, winning the elimination race at the European Track Championships in October.

Further motivation for Cavendish to ride the Olympics is the return of the Madison to the games, a discipline the Manxman has previously won at World Championship level on multiple occasions. He would also need to overcome the fact that he is a specialist in the Madison and Omnium, but is not a team pursuiter, which makes him less versatile than some of his competition. Alex is the digital news editor for CyclingWeekly.

After gaining experience in local newsrooms, national newspapers and in digital journalism, Alex found his calling in cycling, first as a reporter and now as news editor responsible for Cycling Weekly's online news output. Since pro cycling first captured his heart during the Tour de France specifically the Contador-Schleck battle and joining CW in , Alex has covered three Tours de France, multiple editions of the Tour of Britain, and the World Championships, while both writing and video presenting for Cycling Weekly.

He also specialises in fitness writing, often throwing himself into the deep end to help readers improve their own power numbers. Away from journalism, Alex is a national level time triallist, avid gamer, and can usually be found buried in an eclectic selection of books.