CYCLING - ROAD
| Rank | Event | Year | Location | |
| World Championships | ||||
| 1 | Road Race | 2011 | Copenhagen, DEN | |
| Road Race | 2010 | Melbourne, VIC, AUS | DNF | |
| Milano - San Remo | ||||
| 1 | Road Race | 2009 | San Remo, ITA | |
CYCLING - TRACK
| Rank | Event | Year | Location | |
| Olympic Games | ||||
| 9 | Madison | 2008 | Beijing, CHN | |
| World Championships | ||||
| 1 | Madison | 2008 | Manchester, GBR | |
| 1 | Madison | 2005 | Los Angeles, CA, USA | |
| 6 | Madison | 2009 | Pruszkow, POL | |
| 7 | Scratch | 2009 | Pruszkow, POL | |
Nickname
Cav, Manx Missile, Manx Express, Cannonball Cavendish. (teamsky.com, 2012)
Hobbies
Vintage scooters. (NOC, 31 Jul 2008)
Occupation
Athlete
Family
Partner Peta Todd and one daughter
Language(s) spoken
English
Club name
Sky Procycling, Great Britain
Coach
Rod Ellingworth (dailymail.co.uk, 04 Feb 2012)
Other sports
His girlfriend Peta Todd is a former glamour model. (mirror.co.uk, 08 Mar 2012)
Debut
2002 for Great Britain (NOC, 31 Jul 2008)
Injuries
He fell ill on a flight to Qatar where he was due to make his debut for Team Sky at the Tour of Qatar in early February. Despite the illness he still competed in the six-day event, winning two stages, but in the final stage was involved in a crash that left him feeling dizzy but otherwise unhurt. He was still feeling the effects of the original illness when he triumphed in the Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne race at the end of February. (guardian.co.uk, 26 Feb 2012; road.cc, 09 Feb 2012)
The beginning of his 2010 season was hampered by flu and a tooth infection. (bbc.co.uk, 27 Mar 2010)
Additional information
Start of sporting career
He took up cycling at age 13 in the Isle of Man. (telegraph.co.uk, 2011)
Reason for taking up this sport
He began because he loved riding his bike and the idea of racing. (telegraph.co.uk, 2011)
Ambitions
To be the best cyclist and the best father that ever lived. (mirror.co.uk, 08 Mar 2012)
Training
He will cover between 350-650 miles a week. Any off -bike training is done in November and December. (dailymail.co.uk, 02 Jul 2010)
Most influential person in career
His coach Rod Ellingworth. (NOC, 31 Jul 2008)
Sporting philosophy / motto
"If you believe you will win, you will win." (NOC, 31 Jul 2008)
Awards
He was named the 2011 BBC Sports Personality of the Year, becoming only the third cyclist in the 57-year history of the award to win. (news.bbc.co.uk, 29 Dec 2011; mirror.co.uk, 08 Mar 2012)
In 2011 he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire [MBE] in the Queen's birthday honours list. (BBC, 11 Jun 2011)
His victory in the 2009 Milan-San Remo race, one of the big spring classic races of the season, was the first British success in the race since Tom Simpson in 1964. (cyclingweekly.co.uk, 21 Mar 2009)
General
TOUR DE FRANCE
After winning four stages in the 2008 Tour de France he claimed a record-breaking six victories in the 2009 edition. The fifth of these made him the most successful British cyclist in the events history as he passed Barry Hoban's total of eight stage victories. In both 2010 and 2011 he triumphed five times to take his total to 20. In 2011 he triumphed on the Champs-Elysees in the final stage, which made him the first person ever to win the final stage three years running. In the same year he also became the first ever Briton to win the green jersey, awarded for the Tour's most consistent sprinter, and the first rider ever to win four road stages in four consecutive years of the Tour. (thesun.co.uk, 17 Jul 2011; bbc.co.uk, 24 Jul 2011)
MISSED TEST
In 2012 he revealed he had missed an out-of-competition doping test in April 2011. Cavendish was filming a documentary on Mount Etna in Sicilly but had failed to inform the UCI and the World Anti-Doping Agency [WADA] of his whereabouts, meaning he was unavailable for testing when they turned up at his home in Florence. If a rider misses three out-of-competition tests in 18 months then it becomes a doping offence and usually results in a one-year ban. Cavendish admitted his mistake. "It was a simple, genuine administrative error. It's part of the job and it's my job to make sure I don't miss another." (telegraph.co.uk, 06 Jan 2012; guardian.co.uk, 06 Jan 2012)
PROTEST
The fourth stage of the 2010 Tour of Switzerland was marred by a crash between him and Heinrich Haussler in the finale which also brought several other riders down. Cavendish was blamed for the crash and he was punished with a time penalty and a fine by the race organisers. The next day saw the peleton organise a two-minute protest at the start line against his aggressive riding style while Cavendish admitted to some responsibility for the crash. "I'm not going to say that I'm not at fault but I don't think I should have been held as the sole person responsible. It's the worst fall of my career." (bikeradar.com, 16 Jun 2010; guardian.co.uk, 16 Jun 2010)
AUTHOR
In 2009 he released his autobiography Boy Racer, which he claimed give him the chance to explain himself clearer than he had done previously. (bbc.co.uk, 03 Jun 2009)
ANTI-DOPING
He has been outspoken in his views about doping in the sport and in 2007 became the first rider to sign the UCI's anti-doping charter. "Cycling can't bury its head in the sand about its problems. At least the sport is doing something about it now. You get people who will cheat in all sports and all walks of life. But you also get people with talent who don't cheat. I hope I have proved that you can win clean." (BBC Sport, 06 Jul 2007)
Previous Olympics
Beijing 2008
