Columbia’s Mark Cavendish sounded like a man on a mission. He left the Tour de France early, after winning four stages, to focus on training for the Madison event in Beijing.

Seems like it was a mistake, as he and partner Bradley Wiggins finished eighth. Of his performance at the Olympics, he said simply, “It sucked.”

Cavendish was the only male member of Britain’s track cycling team to leave Beijing without a medal.

He was disqualified from a victory at the Tour of California and seemed a bit disgusted with himself, saying, “I haven’t won anything here yet.”

So, he seems motivated to win a stage or two at the Tour of Missouri.  Jonathan Vaughters, director of rival team Garmin-Chipotle, went further, saying, “Mark Cavendish could win five or six stages. But I don’t think he’s going to win the overall. There’s going to be two races, one for the stage victories and one for the overall win.”

Can’t wait to watch the race unfold.