Tour de France 2011: Mark Cavendish caught up in tow row
THE Tour de France organisers have refuted claims by Spanish sprinter Jose Joaquin Rojas that Mark Cavendish was holding on to a team car to ease his passage over mountain climbs.
“There is no problem with Cavendish at all, none at all,” said race director Jean Francois Pescheux.
“Cavendish is a leader and he is under surveillance in the race – like all the team leaders are.”
Rojas, currently second in the points competition, was criticised by Pescheux for “looking for excuses”. HTC High Road rider Cavendish was accused of receiving ‘tows’ by team-cars on climbs by another Movistar sprinter, Fran Ventoso, in the Tour of Italy last May.
At the time he angrily refuted Ventoso’s charges.
“If I stop to pee, if I crash and change a wheel, I always have a race official – as well as an ice-cream truck and a marching band – all watching me,” said Isle of Man star Cavendish who has won two stages so far in this year’s Tour de France.
There is no problem with Cavendish at all, none at all.
“It’s always the same. If I’m dropped but I finish inside the time limit, it means I cheat. If I can cheat, then I’m David Copperfield.”