Mark Cavendish’s “basic contract” for this season has been boosted for his unexpected appearance in the Tour de France, with an agreement by his team to pay him bonuses.
The British rider
is being paid a bonus for riding the race and another bonus for each week he
remains in the event. There are also separate bonuses for stage wins, two of
which Cavendish has already collected.
However, his Deceuninck-QuickStep team boss, Patrick Lefevere, has said no
extra bonuses were put in place for winning, or even wearing, the green jersey
on the Tour because nobody anticipated the British rider would be in that
fight.
“Mark is currently on a minimum contract, but last Monday – when the Tour was already underway – we agreed on a number of bonuses,” Lefevere said.
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The team boss described the bonuses as: “A premium to ride the Tour, one for each week he completes and of course one for each stage win. If he continues like this, Mark won't even have earned badly on his minimum contract by the end of the year.
“We never
talked about the green jersey on Monday. At the time, it just seemed completely
unrealistic that Mark would even compete in that classification.”
Lefevere added he would discuss Cavendish’s future with him after the Tour as the former world champion is on a one-year deal with the team.
However, he added if Cavendish were to break Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 stage wins on the Tour, he may decide that was the perfect time to leave the sport, especially if he won on the Champs Elysées in the green jersey.
“I
wouldn't advise against it, because I've seen too many that are way past their
sell-by date. Mark has another chance to leave the sport on his terms, but the choice is obviously his,” Lefevere added.
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