Exclusive: 'It scares me' - Mark Cavendish on his rivalry fears with team-mate Fabio Jakobsen

Mark Cavendish is hoping a rivalry is not manufactured with Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team-mate Fabio Jakobsen as the pair vie for the same sprint spot at the Tour de France. The Manx Missile marked his Tour comeback last year with four stage wins as he drew level with Belgian legend Eddy Merckx in the all-time charts on 34 wins. Ad/> However, his hopes of breaking the record rest on his Quick-Step bosses as Jakobsen plots his own fairytale comeback.

Jakobsen has returned to form in sensational fashion after his life-threatening crash at the Tour of Poland in 2020, with six victories already this season. /> Giro d'Italia'Some people want Fabio to go to the Tour, so I don't' — Cav on chasing Merckx record2 HOURS AGO Speaking on Eurosport’s new podcast The Breakdown, Cavendish tells hosts Orla Chennaoui and Greg Rutherford that he has an excellent relationship with Jakobsen and is scared the pair could be played off each other in the build-up to the Tour announcement. “It's an easy story to make: ‘am I or aren’t I going?’,” said Cavendish.

“It's quite a lazy story in my honest opinion — because it's that easy. “Fabio and myself have supported each other so much the last [few] years. It’s the last thing I want and the last thing he wants.

“The one thing that scares me about all this is for any sort of rivalry to be created between us because we’ve been there for each other. “Obviously I only know that from experience from knowing what happens — when the press want to create a rivalry. It's not really that nice.

“Unfortunately, it does start to cause friction. We're not like that. We don't want to be like that.