Tour de France 2021 - 'It rattled him' - Bradley Wiggins warns Mark Cavendish the green jersey isn't won yet
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Updated 09/07/2021 at 10:25 GMT
Bradley Wiggins is backing Mark Cavendish to bag the green jersey at the Tour de France, but warned the British rider he could be caught. Cavendish endured an inconsistent Stage 12 and Wiggins explained there was a skinsuit mix-up that left the rider "rattled" from the start. “I think the team were quite all over the shop," Wiggins said on his Eurosport podcast.
'Don't make him angry' - Why misplaced skin suit could fire up Mark Cavendish
Bradley Wiggins has warned Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck–QuickStep) he can still be caught in the green jersey after the Brit was left "rattled" by a skinsuit mix up.
Nils Politt won Stage 12 of the Tour de France and Cavendish made an early decision not to go for it after beginning the race on the back foot, with Deceuninck allowing a 13-man breakaway to build a big lead,
Wiggins revealed skinsuit confusion "rattled" Cavendish before he even jumped on the bike and he wasn’t surprised when the British rider opted to hang back.
“I think the team were quite all over the shop. They were in the third group, (Davide) Ballerini was in the third group, Julian (Alaphilippe) was in the break. It was an obvious choice and I think that just rattled him a bit today.” Wiggins said speaking from his latest podcast in France.
“Mark, he was a bit stressed this morning. He didn’t have a skinsuit at the start.
I thought it might have been a race problem but it’s actually his own team. From what I understand they make his skinsuits for him, the team have them made by Vermarc – which is a clothing sponsor.
“He’s obviously won two stages, both with skinsuits. He gave one away with numbers on as a thank you after he won and obviously I don’t know where the other one is.
“I think he keeps a lot of his jerseys with the numbers on when he wins. He was expecting another skinsuit this morning at the start and they didn’t have one.
“The reason for that is apparently Sam Bennett only used two skinsuits last year so they only made two this year. Mark was really aggravated and stressed out by it from the start.
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“We saw him riding to the start, [he] had the usual blue shorts on with the green jersey.
I think that rattled him this morning because Mark is a bit of a perfectionist and likes everything in place. That was quite stressful for him.
Despite the start, Cavendish maintained his grip on the green jersey and continues to be in pole position for Tour de France’s premier sprinter.
Consistency has been key to Cavendish’s surprise push for the green jersey and Wiggins was asked if he sees the 36-year-old could be caught at this stage in the race.
“Yes, I can. It’s not over by any means,” Wiggins said.
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“As long as he keeps racking up points in the manner he is, keep that nice 50 point cushion, I think he’ll be okay.
“But it’s just consistency with the green jersey. Mark’s not to have any really bad days, which he’s not had up to this point.
“He’s got through the mountains better than most. Let’s not forget Luke Rowe got eliminated and a few other guys and Mark has been well ahead of those guys.
“It shows he’s in good shape. I think he’s on track half way through the race for something that wasn’t his objective, the green jersey.
“I’m sure it will naturally come with his attempt to win stages.”
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