{"id":192025,"date":"2023-02-14T11:28:52","date_gmt":"2023-02-14T11:28:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=192025"},"modified":"2023-02-14T11:59:54","modified_gmt":"2023-02-14T11:59:54","slug":"mark-cavendish-finds-a-team-and-sets-sights-on-the-tour-de-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2023\/02\/14\/mark-cavendish-finds-a-team-and-sets-sights-on-the-tour-de-france\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Cavendish Finds a Team and Sets Sights on the Tour de France"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark Cavendish\u2019s 21st-place finish in the first stage of the Tour of Oman was certainly less than impressive but the 37-year-old Isle of Man native has plenty of excuses, primarily rustiness due to a tumultuous search for a new team that resembled a ride on a roller coaster.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The former world champion and winner of 34 Tour de France stages was riding for Deceuninck\u2013AlphaVinyl when he was told, by team manager Patrick Lefevere, that he would be replaced by Fabio Jakobsen<\/a> as the teams\u2019 sprinter in the Tour de France and that there was no place on the team\u2019s roster in 2023. That set Cavendish on a course to find a new team for the two more years he wanted to ride on the World Tour circuit.<\/p>\n

He was all set to sign a one-year contract for 2023, with the possibility of a one-year extension with the French team B&B Hotels-KTM, when the team collapsed in December due to budget problems. This left Cavendish in a difficult spot for many World Teams had already set their budgets for 2023 and many had also reached the 30-rider limit, effectively ending recruitment for 2023. And few teams were willing to sign an ageing sprinter, even one who has chalked up 53 individual stage wins in Grand Tour races.<\/p>\n

Racing publications devoted lots of space to Cavendish\u2019s predicament, as several teams expressed interest in having a cycling legend under contract. One team was the US outfit Human Powered Health, whose manager, Jonas Carney, was especially eager to sign him. \u201cWe tried to bring Mark to our team,\u201d he said. \u201cCavendish is a legend of our sport and still competes at a very high level. For us, it was an opportunity to improve our results, raise the level of our project and maybe get invited to some big races.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Human Powered Health is a UCI ProTeam, racing in the sport\u2019s second division and without the resources to afford a top rider such as Cavendish who wanted to continue riding in the top level. And then Alexander Vinokourov, the general manager of the UCI World Team Astana Qazaqstan, called and Cavendish\u2019s future began to look much brighter. \u201cThe biggest thing about everything was how Vino spoke to me,\u201d Cavendish told CyclingWeekly.<\/a> “Just the context in how he spoke: I didn\u2019t have to feel that I had to prove myself. It was quite professional.”<\/p>\n

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Got that faaaade into my British Champion jersey \ud83d\udd25 @AstanaQazTeam<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/B7WOc5QlpE<\/a><\/p>\n

— Mark Cavendish (@MarkCavendish) January 17, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n