Mark Cavendish has agreed the financial terms of a new contract that would see him remain at Deceuninck-QuickStep next year. He is also now working with the team to find a role for him after retirement, including possibly managing the team alongside Patrick Lefevere.
After team boss Lefevere had himself
created the impression there was a gulf between himself and Cavendish over the
terms of a new contract, he has now questioned why people thought there was a
difficulty.
“I read that the negotiations between Mark Cavendish and
me are difficult and that the water is deep,” Lefevere wrote in his Het Nieuwsblad column published today. “The
reality is somewhat different. I’ll see Mark face-to-face next week when he is
in Belgium for the World Championships.
“We have now reached an agreement on salaries and
bonuses. The only point of contention is what Mark will do after his career. He
would like to remain involved with our team and that’s certainly negotiable
with me.”
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He then repeated some of the comments he had made in recent days, suggesting the financial package Cavendish had been looking for initially was not realistic, adding it was money the team would like to spend over two seasons rather than one.
Money aside, Lefevere also said a big part of the negotiation was what Cavendish could do for the team after he stopped racing. Aged 36 years now, next year may be his last campaign.
Lefevere said while many riders wanted to work on the performance, or coaching, side of teams after they retired, they were often only expert in the kind of training that had worked for them as riders.
“Another possibility is that he walks with me in a
management position. Mark is someone for whom doors open. He has the name and
you have to give it to him: he can explain it too,” Lefevere said.
“Companies such as Science in Sport and McLaren entered cycling through Mark. He has excellent relationships with energy drink company Monster. In that role he can certainly be of value to our team."
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