Manxman 'didn't feel good at all' on way to 46th place
Sunday 22 March 2015 19:41, UK
Mark Cavendish has admitted his recent illness was behind his subdued performance at Milan-San Remo on Sunday.
The Etixx – Quick-Step rider was among the favourites for victory in the Italian one-day classic but was dropped on the last climb of the day, the Poggio, and finished 23 seconds behind winner John Degenkolb in 46th place.
Milan-San Remo had been Cavendish’s main goal for the first part of the season, but his preparations were disrupted by illness picked up in the week before he raced at Tirreno-Adriatico earlier this month and he was unable to fully recover.
“I didn't feel good at all,” Cavendish said. “I had nowhere near the form I had a few weeks ago before I got sick.”
Cavendish also revealed he had shed his chain on the penultimate climb, the Cipressa, and had been forced to expend vital energy to catch back up the peloton.
He added: “A kilometre and half to go on Cipressa, when it was more flat, I had a mechanical. My chain went off. I used some energy I needed with my condition in order to close the gap on the descent.
“Then, before the start the Poggio, I was behind a rider who lost the wheel in front of him for a moment, and at Milan-San Remo, any gap at all can cost you the race.
“On the Poggio you have to keep moving up and fight for position, and I didn't have the energy to do the accelerations necessary at that point. The combination of how I felt and my energy expenditure catching back to the peloton after my mechanical just put me too far back.”
Cavendish will look to bounce back from his Milan-San Remo disappointment at next week’s Gent-Wevelgem one-day classic in Belgium.
