Battered but determined to sprint on in the Giro d'Italia after a dramatic late crash sent him spinning across the stage 5 finish line, Mark Cavendish has said he will fight for more success in the Italian Grand Tour.
Well-positioned to sprint for victory at Salerno, the veteran British fastman first had the bad luck of his back wheel spinning on a white line within sight of the finish, then went careering into the barriers when an ill-judged manoeuvre by Alberto Dainese (DSM) saw their wheels clash.
Dainese was subsequently relegated for his move, while Cavendish battled hard to keep control of his bike but ultimately fell heavily, along with several other riders.
Despite his dramatic somersault and spin across the line, the Briton said in a video issued later by his Astana Qazaqstan squad that, subject to final confirmation, he does not appear to have broken any bones and that he will fight on.
Cavendish also said he hoped other riders involved in the crash were OK and passed on his congratulations to stage winner Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck). He also did not make any criticism of Dainese, saying the Italian had called him and that "it's part of sprinting."
"I'm back at the hotel now, I've had my wounds cleaned up, and my knee's a little bit sore, but I don't think there's anything broken. We haven't checked that out yet, but I don't have the pain of anything broken," Cavendish said.
"Only morale is a little bit. I was in perfect position, I kicked for the sprint, my back wheel was on the white line, and when I kicked it slides the wheel," he explained.
As for the crash that followed immediately afterwards, Cavendish said.
"The circumstances after that.it's sprinting. Alberto has called me. You know, it's part of sprinting, I just hope everybody else who crashed is OK, I saw some stretchers and that."
"[So] we try again, and congratulations to Kaden Groves, too."
Thursday will see the Giro d'Italia stage finish in Naples, where Cavendish took a memorable sprint win back in 2013 on the opening day of the race.