Cavendish continues his “four-week” Tour de France

Mark Cavendish (Sky) triumphs

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Manxman builds quietly towards London 2012 Olympics

So used to being the centre of attention at the Tour de France, Mark Cavendish this year finds himself in an unfamiliar backseat position on a Sky team focused on defending Bradley Wiggins’ yellow jersey. With the Olympic Games on the agenda immediately after the Tour, however, the Manxman may well be grateful for small mercies as he prepares quietly for his big rendezvous in London on July 28.

As television crews swarmed around Wiggins and the intriguing Chris Froome at the Sky team hotel during the rest day in Brouilly, Cavendish discreetly held court at a rather more low-key roundtable discussion. Ten days into the race, Cavendish admitted that he was glad to have the chance to meet with his family on Tuesday and step out briefly from what he termed “the bubble of the Tour.”

“It’s not claustrophobic to be in it – it’s really nice to be in it – but it takes a lot of energy mentally to concentrate on one thing for three weeks,” Cavendish said. “To move out of it and enjoy normal life for one day is really good.”

Cavendish’s Olympic appointment means that his Tour is effectively made up of five Saturdays rather than the traditional four. He reiterated his intention to continue until the final stage in Paris, but he will cross the Channel that evening to begin his final countdown to the Olympics.

“We’re flying straight out on Sunday night and we’re just treating it as part of this, it’s a four-week process,” he said. “There might be a couple of days where I can relax but then there are three days of really working towards it. It’ll be just like imagining I’ve got a four-week race going on. But it’s just the last week [that] is pretty easy,” he joked.

“It’s the only way to really look at it because it’s hard to build

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