“To be honest, when I see him, I think I’ll have to fight the urge to get off my bike and hit him, it’s his lack of remorse… You see, he thinks that everyone’s doing it. People look at what I’m doing and think that I must be cheating. But cycling’s in the forefront of anti-doping and that’s why I can win. Everyone was complaining this year that the Tour wasn’t exciting but it’s not exciting because you don’t have guys like Riccò going away and killing everyone. The doped guys used to be the ones who would ride away at the end of stages. Now everyone’s fucked after 80 kilometres and it’s the one who’s least fucked who wins.”
– Mark Cavendish on Riccardo Ricco, courtesty of Pro Cycling’s Dan Friebe.
Say what you like about Mark Cavendish but when he opens his mouth, he means it. Sometimes those post-race congratulations sound stilted but that’s probably because he’s said the same thing three times in the past week alone. It’s refreshing to hear a champion condemn others who are making such obvious mistakes. The sport would be healthier if other riders would be as strong willed as this, no?