Vision debates whether Mark Cavendish is the greatest British cyclist of all time.
YES – Sally Dolton
Britain not short of talented cyclists. Victoria Pendleton and Chris Hoy dominate on the track, whilst Nicole Cook and Bradley Wiggins excel on the road. However, the one cyclist that tops them all is Mark Cavendish.
By his own admission, he isn’t happy unless he is the best. He has shown his skill at both the track and the road disciplines. On the track, he won gold in the Madison at the 2005 and the 2008 World Championships, as well as gold in the scratch at the 2006 Commonwealth games.
On the road, he is unparalleled. In his first ever professional season he racked up a whopping eleven wins, and in 2011 he became Britain’s first road race world champion for 46 years. In the Tour de France, the most prestigious road race in the world, he has won twenty stages, placing him sixth best of all time. He is the first person to win the final stage three years in succession, and at the 2011 event became the first British cyclist to win the ‘green jersey’.
This year, he has continued such form, winning the third stage of the Tour of Qater, and is currently excelling in the Giro d’Italia. He hasn’t won three Olympic gold medals like Hoy, but every year he racks up historic victories and unparalleled firsts. He has to be the best British cyclist of all time.
NO – Dave Washington
Undoubtedly Mark Cavendish is an exceptionally talented cyclist. To become World Champion and points jersey winner in the Tour de France and Vuelta, you have to be special. Mark is the top sprinter in cycling at the moment, if not all time, but sprinting is only one aspect of cycling.
Cavendish isn’t the only current top British cyclist. Britain has an illustrious pedigree in track cycling, with Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton being two who have enjoyed remarkable successes. Bradley Wiggins is also another world leading cyclist, who has made the transition from track racing, to become one of the best tour riders in the world.
The pinnacle of cycling is winning Tour de France GC, and however superb a rider Mark may be, that is beyond him. Wiggins, however, has a realistic chance. In 2009 he finished fourth overall on a testing route against some of the greatest cyclists of all time, matching Robert Millar’s achievement in 1984. Despite a lack of support, Millar also claimed the King of the Mountains jersey in 1984, and finished second in both the Giro and Vuelta.
Last year it seemed as if Bradley might surpass that achievement, before he broke his collarbone in a crash, which ended his tour. He bounced back finishing third in the Vuelta GC. In 2012, he has won the prestigious tour from Paris-Nice, as he gears up for a tilt at Tour de France glory. Winning that would surely class him as the greatest British cyclist of all time.
Beryl Burton is Britain’s best ever cyclist! Cav may be coming close but Beryls results still stand out. She won seven world championships on the track and the road, and that was before her main discipline – time trialling – was even catered for at world level! On the domestic time trial circuit she was top of the pile for a quarter of a century, set records at nearly every distance and even beat the men at their own game. See this article for more on her achievements.
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/444416/beryl-burton-british-legend.html
Other British cyclists of note include Tom Simpson – our great road racing hope of the 1960s, Steve Peat – he’s won more downhill MTBing titles than I can count, Graham Obree and Chris Boardman, who battled for the hour record in the 1990s, and Tommy Godwin – he rode 75,065 miles in a year to set a record that will probably never be beaten. After he’d done that, his fingers never totally uncurled!
Greg, you are absolutely right. This debate fails to mention not only Tommy Simpson or Graham Obree but any off-road cycle sport at all! Danny Hart and Steve Peat are two big names on the Downhill circuit; see this clip of Danny Hart smashing the world downhill championship time by 11.6 seconds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqYgAX6D43Q
Also Nicole Cooke, World Road Race Champion and Olympic Road race champion in the same year (2008) and has been second, third twice and fourth twice in World Road Race Championships. In 2000 and 2001 she won the Junior World title on the Road and in 2000 she was also World Time trial and Mountain bike champion and the National Road, Cyclocross and Mountain bike champion. She was National Road Race champion TEN times between 1999 and 2009 only missing one! As well as many contintental wins to challenge all the men; surely she is definately a contender on the road!
Oh and watch out for the likes of Geraint Thomas and youngsters coming strongly through domestic road racing such as Lucy Garner and Scott Thwaites!