Mark Cavendish – “I'm not going to change my game plan...”

“Yeah, absolutely. But a win is a win. Last year there were some who said that I was nothing without a [lead-out] train but I won three of them without that. The reason I got the lead-out train – the reason people are dedicated to put me in the best position – is because they know I’ll finish it off. You don’t get people who are going to work for you unless you’ve done it by yourself anyway. It’s the same as before: maybe I can win if I’m alone but with the team I’ve got, there’s no chance to lose because they’re so dedicated.
“I left it really late today and it was closer than any other sprints have been but we adapted as a team to the situation and it worked out well. We know we’re the dominant team in the sprints so if we can carry on doing what we are, we’ve got to be content with that.
“I’ve certainly got an advantage over my rivals psychologically. But I don’t think I’ve got them beaten because otherwise they’d all be out of a job. They’re all great guys and they’re all phenomenal talents – phenomenal sports people – but I think I’ve got an advantage on the others.
“I’m really happy to be back in green. It was really dangerous at the finish. There wasn’t a point where it was at all worth risking going for a few points at an intermediate sprint. That would cause more danger than its worth. We haven’t discussed it but it seems to be an unspoken agreement that we won’t risk chasing two points. With Thor fifth today, I’ve got a bigger advantage over him but it’s still going to be hard because we’ve seen how good he is: he can get in a break over the mountains but I’m still not going to change my game plan. It’s working.”