(Reuters) – Mark Cavendish made his case for Tour de France selection by winning his second British road race title on Sunday, saying he will win stages if selected in Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl’s team.
Cavendish held off Samuel Watson and Alex Richardson in a sprint to the finish to claim victory in Scotland, adding to his win in the Milano-Torino earlier this year. He also claimed a stage win at the Giro d’Italia.
Dutchman Fabio Jakobsen is in line to be Quick-Step’s sprinter at the July 1-24 Tour de France, meaning Cavendish, who took four stage wins last year, may not be selected.
“I can at least show the reason I am not going on the Tour is not because I have got bad form,” Cavendish said. “I am going so much better than last year and you know what happened last year (at the Tour).
“I haven’t had a call from the team one way or another. I am trying to stay optimistic, I have trained as if I am going on the Tour. My condition is there, I am good enough to go on Tour, I know if I went I would win.”
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
