Mark Renshaw: Cav's not a rider on my programme for next year
Mark Renshaw: Cav's not a rider on my programme for next year
As speculation mounts, the sports director isn't planning on seeing his friend in Astana kit next season
The will he, won’t he mini-saga involving Mark Cavendish’s future keeps on rolling but his long-term friend and sports director Mark Renshaw has told us that the sprinter is not a feature in Astana’s current plans for next season.
Cavendish was due to hang up his wheels at the end of this season after winning a record-setting 35th Tour de France stage. He went on record several times stating that he would retire but in recent weeks the clarity around the situation has dissipated with the rider appearing at the Tour de France presentation in Paris and giving a rather ambiguous ‘we’ll see’ when asked if he would return to the race as a rider in 2025.
That stance almost completely contradicts the one taken by Astana team boss Alexandre Vinokourov, who told us in September that ‘Mark Cavendish racing in 2025 makes no sense’.
With Cavendish, context is vital. He was meant to retire in 2023, announcing such during that year’s Giro d’Italia. However, that decision was overturned once he crashed out of the Tour a few months later.