Mark Cavendish’s choice to proceed racing for an additional season and battle to attempt to break Eddy Merckx’s all-time document for Tour de France stage wins is not only good news for Astana Qazaqstan but additionally for the game normally, says workforce supervisor Alexander Vinokourov.
The British sprinter was on account of retire on the finish of the season, however having crashed out of the Tour de France this summer season and damaged his collarbone, Astana formally confirmed that he would as an alternative race on for an additional 12 months.
Cavendish will now return to racing within the Presidential Biking Tour of Turkey, however relying on his situation after such an extended spell away will both be using for wins himself or to assist the workforce’s different contenders, Vinokourov informed Cyclingnews.
As for 2024, the workforce have but to determine on a selected race program aside from the Tour. However Vinokourov additionally stated he expects some modifications in Cavendish’s coaching schedule as properly, with a spell at altitude camp, presumably in Colombia, fairly prone to be on the books. The important thing factor, as Vinokourov stated, is that Cavendish is again racing and able to battle on.
“Once I talked to Mark after his accident, I stated I believed that crashing out like that was no means for a champion as massive as him to finish his profession,” Vinokourov informed Cyclingnews.
“I proposed to him to go on and do one other 12 months, do a final Tour de France and he spent an excellent whereas pondering it by. He talked to his household, after all, however the choice to go on for an additional 12 months is great information, each from a sponsorship viewpoint, but additionally for the game itself.”
Each cloud has a silver lining and one massive benefit for Astana Qazaqstan and Cavendish Vinokourov says, is that they’ll have far more time to plan out the next season. In 2022, Cavendish’s signing was very a lot last-minute and so they might barely contract any extra riders past the Briton himself.
In stark distinction, the information on Wednesday that Cavendish’s former leadout man Michael Mørkøv and Soudal-QuickStep coach Vasilis Anastopoulos will each be becoming a member of the squad, the latter as head of efficiency, felt very very like a boosted assertion of intent regarding Astana’s need to assist Cavendish take Tour de France stage win quantity 35 in 2024.
“Already after the Tour we talked with Mark and we stated we’d do the utmost to try to change issues,” Vinokourov stated. “This 12 months within the Tour, we had been missing a final man within the sprints.
“However sooner or later, we’ve received Cees Bol,[Yevgeni] Fedorov, [Alexey] Lutsenko and [new signing Davide] Ballerini as riders who will be capable of go on taking part in a stable position for us” – on the time of talking, new signing Michael Mørkøv had not been formally confirmed, however he would absolutely type a part of that equation as properly – “not simply within the Tour, however within the Classics as properly.”
The will to maneuver on from the 2023 season and look forward is powerful, Vinokourov says. “We had a whole lot of illness within the workforce, guys crashing out and so forth. Not a lot you are able to do underneath these circumstances, nevertheless it’s true it was a little bit of a disaster for us.”
One of many few, very main, brilliant spots got here within the Giro d’Italia, Vinokourov says, when Cavendish scored Astana’s largest victory of the season on the final day of the race. And there may be little doubt that a lot of the workforce’s foremost focus for 2024 will as soon as once more be on what Cavendish can obtain.
“It’s true that win gave him a whole lot of confidence,” Vinokourov says. “And within the Tour, we had some actual near-misses earlier than he crashed out. I hope that’ll inspire him once more.”
“Like I stated to Mark, in case your head’s nonetheless in it, then the remainder of you remains to be in it. If you wish to do one other season, you’ll be able to. It’s what your head tells you that issues.”
Cavendish will experience the Tour of Türkiye (October 8 – 15) however as Vinokourov says “It’s principally as a result of he wants to complete the 12 months with a race in his legs. If he does that, then the next 12 months he’ll be faster entering into type.
“It’s perhaps not for successful, however to assist [sprinter Gleb] Syritsa or Cees Bol, perhaps even when Andrey Lutsenko goes for the GC, he’s received good type.
“Then we’ll have a look at subsequent season late on, we’re doing a team-building camp on October 19 and October 20 and there we’ll determine. However there will probably be some modifications within the coaching schedule in comparison with this 12 months. We’ll be doing a little issues in another way.”
Vinokourov has no concept, he says, whether or not Cavendish will return to the Giro, “however he’ll doubtless do extra coaching camps at altitude. It’ll be necessary to construct for the beginning of the season in addition to the Tour de France. We’ve been speaking about perhaps doing a camp in Colombia, we’ll see.”
As for past 2024, come 2025 Vinokourov strongly hopes that Cavendish will proceed to play a job inside the workforce. Varied initiatives have been floated within the media, together with a dash improvement workforce however as Vinokourov says, nothing has but been determined and numerous choices are on the desk.
On the identical time, a quest for a second sponsor for the workforce stays a key a part of his future targets as properly. However with Cavendish firmly on board for subsequent season, 2024’s foremost sporting goal is now greater than clear.