Sean Kelly has said this year's Tour de France was the ideal opportunity for Mark Cavendish to return to break the all-time stage-win record, adding it was now very hard to see where the British rider would find a lead-out next season.
Patrick Lefevere has told the Italian media Cavendish would not be with his QuickStep Alpha Vinyl team next year, saying he did not believe it was possible for him to remain.
"He will not stay, I think not, it is not possible," Lefevere has told Gazzetta dello Sport. "It hurts my heart… but every now and then the time comes to say thank you for everything he has done for the team and I hope vice versa. I know he wants to race for another two years… but it is not part of our project."
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Sean Kelly, who spoke to stickybottle before Lefevere's interview was published last night, said it had been clear for a long time the Belgian team boss was going to favour Dutch sprinter Fabio Jakobsen over Cavendish for the Tour de France.
He believed Jakobsen's abilities, and the rate he was winning races, meant he was the best sprinter in the world this year and it was now difficult to see what Cavendish's next step might be.
"I think this year was the chance to go back and get one because he is going well," Kelly said of Cavendish being equal with Eddy Merckx on 34 Tour stage wins and needing to just one more to hold the record in his own right.
"And being with Quick-Step this season, they could do the job," Kelly said of the team being more than capable if they had opted to bring Cavendish to the Tour for even one proper chance. "They could have said 'Ok we're going to do the lead out for Cav today'. Unfortunately he just wasn't going to be entertained and it had been looking that way from many weeks
"And now where does he go? Where does he go to where can you get a team that will do a lead-out for him? It's difficult to see when you look down through the teams. It's going to be a complicated one for Cav to get a next stage at the Tour."
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Kelly said while Cavendish had hit top form again last year, there was little room for sentiment in pro cycling, especially in teams where other riders were proven winners.
"Your past performances are quickly forgotten," Kelly said of Cavendish being unable to get a start in the Tour this year after winning four stages and the green jersey during an incredible comeback on the race last year.
"If there is somebody there who is as good or better and is younger, in the case of Jakobson, well then they are going to go for that."
Kelly added that in the build-up to the Tour he "couldn't see Cavendish being selected at all". And while some fans wanted Lefevere to pick both Jakobsen and Cavendish for the Tour, he did not believe that was ever going to work.
"Even if there was some sort of an agreement with Cavendish; you aim for the first three stages, say, with him and then he gets a stage win and (the team then) works for Jakobsen….
"But then if (Cavendish) doesn't get a stage win, then he becomes a problem. He'd still be there and still trying to get a stage win. And that might go on for a week and it just upsets everything. So for that reason, they just played the sprint card for Jakobsen 100 per cent."
Kelly also believed Jakobson was the best sprinter in the world this year and his return from his life-threatening crash at the Tour de Pologne two years ago was also "a great story".
"He's been consistent all year and he's also won one-day races that were very aggressive; races where the team can do a certain amount for you but you really have to go up there and dog it yourself, stay up there in aggressive racing often in windy conditions. And he's able to do that as well. So he's the package."
