Deceuninck-QuickStep team boss Patrick Lefevere has said Mark Cavendish should not overestimate himself, saying it was unlikely he would ever repeat his Tour de France wins of this year and he could not add to the team in the way he believed.
Lefevere said Cavendish no longer commanded the salary he
now expected. The latest remarks from Lefevere continue his habit of trying to
bargain down riders in public. They come after it emerged Lefevere offered
Cavendish a basic salary for next year, but with bonuses if he won races.
"We saved his skin, we gave him all the tools,”
Lefevere said of his team taking in Cavendish when he almost drifted out of the
sport last year and also giving him the best lead-out in the world.
“He took the challenge and he did it. And now it begins. Now he thinks it is time to cash in again," he added, saying Cavendish’s idea of his value and his place in the team had shifted since he won his Tour stages this year.
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“Will he do the same again? That seems unlikely to me," Lefevere said. “Mark always said the same thing: 'Next year it's up to Fabio (Jakobsen), he's the fastest in the world, he's young, he has to go to the Tour'. Until he has now won four stages himself and has equaled Merckx's record," Lefevere told Het Laatste Nieuws.
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He also said
because Jakobsen was going to the Tour as lead sprinter next year, Cavendish
would not ride the race. The issue of what Cavendish’s salary would be year was
“a very difficult” issue.
“I can
hardly give someone who wins four stages in the Tour and the green jersey, four
stages in the Tour of Turkey and a stage in the Tour of Belgium the same wage
as this year,” Lefevere noted.
“Mark
Cavendish has sky-high expectations in that regard and I'm very realistic.
That's a difficult marriage. He's
now starting to talk to me about his image.
“He says:
'with my image I am worth so much'. I say: 'your image in London is different
from your image in West Flanders, with all due respect'. None of my
West-Flemish sponsors are going to make amends to pay Mark Cavendish a higher
wage for his image."
Lefevere also
revealed Cavendish then was seek a job with the team after his racing days are
over.
"Many riders become performance coaches based on
their experience, but training is also needed. He also wants to walk next
to me, learn the trade, be a PR man. I say: You're out of luck, I signed
with my main sponsors until 2027, what are you going to teach me?"
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