On the road, Cavendish won his first stages of a Grand Tour with two victories in the Giro d'Italia and four stages in the Tour de France, the first of which on stage five. He won also stage eight, twelve and thirteen. After stage fourteen, Cavendish abandoned the Tour to concentrate on the Olympics in Beijing. He paired with Wiggins in the madison, and as the reigning world champions, they were favourites for the gold medal but finished ninth. Cavendish felt Wiggins had not performed to the best of his ability in the madison.