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Mark Cavendish will probably go to Astana because he's riding Wilier's bike.
?♀️???♀️???♀️ pic.twitter.com/f4AvhFpfPC— ???Kyosuke Takei??? (@KyosukeTakei) December 19, 2022
Mark Cavendish spotted on a Wilier bike, as used by Astana Qazaqstan
Mark Cavendish has reportedly joined the Astana Qazaqstan team camp in southern Spain and a grainy video shot by a leisure cyclist, via a bike-mounted camera, appears to show the British champion riding a Wilier bike, which is used by the Kazakh team.
Cavendish's destination for next season has been one of the stories of the off-season, especially after his first option, B&B Hotels-KTM, imploded when it failed to land new sponsors, as it had expected to. Now it seems Astana Qazaqstan has not only found room for Cavendish in its 2023 line-up but also for Cees Bol, who would be an ideal lead-out man.
Both riders joined the team's training camp on Monday on Spain’s Costa Blanca, the same area where Cavendish was recorded riding on his own in his British champion's kit and apparently on a Wilier bike.
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Bol, who has ridden for Team DSM and Team Sunweb before it for the last five seasons, was also due to go to B&B Hotels-KTM. However, it now appears Astana Qazaqstan has made room for both riders in its line-up for next year, despite being full just weeks ago, with the maximum 30 riders signed.
Miguel Ángel López was fired by the team last week amid a doping investigation into a doctor he is allegedly linked to, though the rider denies any wrongdoing. His dismissal freed up one place in the roster, for Cavendish. And now it seems a second spot has been cleared by Astana Qazaqstan demoting one of its Kazakh riders to its development team.
It now seems Cavendish will be an Astana Qazaqstan rider, with Bol as lead-out man, next year. The SEG agency are agents for both riders and reports in Europe suggest they were offered as a two-man package; first to US team Human Powered Health and now to Astana Qazaqstan.
If the move is confirmed for the British-Dutch partnership, it is likely they will ride the Tour next year, where Cavendish is aiming to take at least one more win, bringing his career tally on the race to 35. That would secure him top spot on his own in the all-time record list. He is currently equal top of that list, with Eddy Merckx; both riders on 34 Tour stage wins.
Alexandre Vinokourov is team boss at Astana - a World Tour outfit guaranteed a place in next year's Tour - and he very publicly enthused about the idea of signing Cavendish when asked about he possible move last week.
“I thought about Mark right away,” Vinokourov told CyclingNews of Cavendish’s availability once it became clear the B&B Hotels-KTM team he was supposed to sign for had not landed any big new sponsors.
“I gave him a phone call saying if he was free then we could talk. It’s true he’s what, 35 or 36?” said Vinokourov, who served a doping ban during his career, of 37-year-old Cavendish. “But what really matters is if he’s motivated. I won the Olympic Games when I was nearing 40.”
