Mark Cavendish's team for next year has been the source of rumour and reports going back as far as last summer and now the latest squad said to be firmly in the running to sign the British sprinter is Astana-Qazaqstan.
This time those rumours were begun after on-the-record comments by team boss Alexandre Vinokourov and now it seems talks between the two parties have progressed to the stage where a contract signing is reportedly imminent.
Ciro Scognamiglio, a long standing cycling journalist from Italy, has reported in Gazzetta dello Sport that Cavendish has held talks with Astana-Qazaqstan and that rider and team are "close to find an agreement for 2023".
Last week it emerged the team had terminated the contract of Miguel Ángel López after the team claimed it had learned more about an anti-doping investigation, into a doctor accused of being involved in doping. And even though López is not under investigation as part of that criminal inquiry, and the rider himself insisted he has done nothing wrong, his contract was ended with over a year left to run.
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That meant the team instantly had a place on its roster, and the budget, to sign another big name rider. And though the team has no record with sprinters, Cavendish's name immediately cropped up with Vinokourov sounding very enthusiastic about adding the former world champion to his roster.
“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, and looks like folding completely, after months of rumours.
“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.”
If Cavendish goes to the team it keeps alive his hopes of going back to the Tour de France to take a 35th stage victory and thus surpass Eddy Merckx. Both Cavendish and Merckx currently have 34 stage wins, putting them joint top of the all-time stage winners list.
Astana-Qazaqstan is a World Tour team, meaning it is guaranteed a place at the Tour de France next year. However, how they might put in place a lead-out for Cavendish is less clear. The team has mostly based its efforts around climbing and general classification in stage races, with some classics riders also in the roster down the years.
