Cavendish Set to Show His Pace in This Year's Tour

Britain's electrifying sprinter Mark Cavendish, currently regarded as the fastest finisher on the professional circuit, will ride this year's Tour de France "if he stays healthy and nothing [untoward] happens" between now and the start on July 5, the owner of the Manx cyclist's team, Bob Stapleton, said yesterday.

"He's a remarkable athlete, he's had a huge year already, and he has huge ambitions with the Tour and the Olympic Games, and we need to manage that," said Stapleton, who yesterday announced that the team's main sponsor from the Tour onwards will be the US-based Columbia Sportswear Company.

Cavendish, left, who is only 22, won two stages of the Giro d'Italia on his debut this year, as well as taking the world madison relay championship on the track in March. He is likely to ride in that event in Beijing and may well compete only for the first 10 days of the Tour to conserve his form for the Olympics.