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Diplomatic feud latest woe at Commonwealth Games By CHRIS LEHOURITES 2010-09-28T15:18:16ZNEW DELHI (AP) -- The Commonwealth Games quelled a brewing diplomatic feud Tuesday, saying both Prince Charles and Indian President Pratibha Patil will essentially have the honor of opening the competition.... hosted.ap.org |
NHL bullish on next TV rights deal Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis has an interesting way to describe the 93-year-old NHL this season. feeds.bizjournals.com |
Cavendish criticises Delhi absentees • Manxman stayed on in Delhi as an unpaid helper• Pro team contract problems related to lack of sponsorsThe question of what the Commonwealth Games counts for in the 21st century will be debated for some time to come after the last few weeks, but for Britain's leading cyclist, Mark Cavendish, it is a no-brainer: the Games is a force for good, and his fellow sportsmen – including most of England's leading cyclists – who opted not to travel missed out on a worthwhile experience."The guys who stayed away made a mistake. If you look at the chance of catching disease in India; if you look after yourself you won't catch anything. As a single guy you run a risk if you sleep with a girl. Risks come with everything."Having been scheduled to fly out last Monday, the Manxman opted to stay on until Friday. He acted as an unpaid helper to the Isle of Man team and drove the team car as his team-mate, Andrew Roche, a 38-year-old at his sixth Games, came 12th in the time trial. "I didn't want to just swan about in sunglasses; I was even wiping his back after the warm-up. The thing is, I know what it's like to be looked after, and these guys gave 100 per cent for me in the road race."During the Games, Cavendish also mulled over his setback at the world championship road race, where he was a favourite but failed to finish."The worlds was a massive disappointment. I don't know what it was exactly but I think I didn't let myself recover after the Tour of Spain. It is hard to rest and do nothing. I kept testing myself every time I went out training, going further and faster."Cavendish will be in London on Thursday to attend a screening of the film Chasing Legends, which follows his HTC-Columbia team during the 2009 Tour de France. After being lukewarm about the project, it grew on him and he can now wax lyrical about his favourite part, the scenes in the HTC team car where a camera films the interplay between the team managers, the Dane, Brian Holm, and the German, Rolf Aldag. "It's hilarious whether or not you know them. Brian has this dark, dry sense of humour like all Danes, and the score really plays up to the comedy, you could do a spin-off cartoon of them just on their own."In Delhi, the Manxman expressed his frustration at dealings with HTC, to whom he is contracted for 2011 and with whom he has won 15 stages in the last three Tours de France. He explained to the Observer that it boiled down to a lack of a new co-sponsor. "I love the team, I love where I am. It's the best place to do what I want to do, which is ride my bike and have fun and win, but if everything rests on you, you shouldn't have that feeling of being taken advantage of. I don't want to extort anything, I am a loyal person but I want to be paid fairly."We're the most successful team on the planet and something is wrong when we don't have enough sponsors. Ninety nine per cent of people on the team, riders and staff, are not just performing, but over-performing. There are a couple of people whose job it is to get new sponsors and it's frustrating when they can't and we suffer for it. I'm just frustrated because I've been massively underpaid this year and next because for some reason we can't get more sponsors."Mark CavendishCommonwealth Games 2010CyclingWilliam Fotheringhamguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
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