Mark Cavendish - guest editor

by MARK CAVENDISH

Procycling magazine, January 2019

Everything I do, I’m hands-on. I do my own social media, and I never pretend to be somebody I’m not. So when the editorial team of Procycling got in touch to invite me to be guest editor, I didn’t want to just have my face on the cover and then let them get on with it. I wanted to edit the magazine. The first thing I did was red-ink the feature ideas I was sent and come up with my own list. I wanted to talk about the riders, races and issues I’m interested in.

One rider I really wanted to be in the mag was Marianne Vos. She’s the epitome of what empowerment is, and why you shouldn’t have limitations because of your sex. She was dominating the women’s scene before there was anything to gain from it financially.

I wanted a feature about Milan-Sanremo. Like me, Sanremo is misunderstood by people who don’t get it! These days, some people think racing is just doing a fast sportive. Look at the cover of the magazine – it’s Procycling. There’s a difference between pro cycling and cycling, and Milan-Sanremo is exactly what pro racing is about.

Track is the purest form of racing – it teaches you so much, so there’s an article about how riders benefit from doing it, and there’s also one about my favourite track race, the Gent Six. Plus, a feature about the first bike race that I can remember – the 1992 Olympic Pursuit, won by Chris Boardman. I wanted to do an interview myself, so I’ve talked to Rod Ellingworth, my old coach at the Academy, who is the most underrated and one of the most important men in British cycling.

There’s also a photo feature by Scott Mitchell, a piece about concussion, which I think is one of the biggest issues facing us and one I have suffered from in the past, a look at how teams like mine are using data to find gains, a guest appearance by Cadel Evans, an investigation into sprint tactics and, of course, an interview with me. Enjoy the magazine!