"As soon as we did the first training ride on the course on Thursday, even after 10 minutes on the bike, we were riding so well together I had the feeling we were going to win, " said Cavendish.

BBC: Cavendish in red

He naturally assumed they were scamming him into buying a high-priced custom, so he spent the next two years going from shop to shop, unable to find anyone who could offer to sell him a bike that fit, riding a painful compromise the whole time, before biting the bullet and investing in the Serotta, which he now wishes he had bought two years earlier.

FORBES: Why You Need a Custom Road Bike