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Mark Cavendish’s determination to proceed racing for one more season and battle to attempt to break Eddy Merckx’s all-time report for Tour de France stage wins isn’t just good news for Astana Qazaqstan but additionally for the game basically, says crew supervisor Alexander Vinokourov.
The British sprinter was as a consequence of retire on the finish of the season, however having crashed out of the Tour de France this summer season and damaged his collarbone, Astana formally confirmed that he would as a substitute race on for one more 12 months.
Cavendish will now return to racing within the Presidential Biking Tour of Turkey, however relying on his situation after such a protracted spell away will both be using for wins himself or to help the crew’s different contenders, Vinokourov advised Cyclingnews.
As for 2024, the crew have but to resolve on a selected race program aside from the Tour. However Vinokourov additionally mentioned he expects some modifications in Cavendish’s coaching schedule as properly, with a spell at altitude camp, presumably in Colombia, fairly prone to be on the books. The important thing factor, as Vinokourov mentioned, is that Cavendish is again racing and able to combat on.
“After I talked to Mark after his accident, I mentioned I believed that crashing out like that was no method for a champion as huge as him to finish his profession,” Vinokourov advised Cyclingnews.
“I proposed to him to go on and do one other 12 months, do a final Tour de France and he spent a great whereas pondering it by. He talked to his household, after all, however the determination to go on for one more 12 months is great information, each from a sponsorship viewpoint, but additionally for the game itself.”
Each cloud has a silver lining and one huge benefit for Astana Qazaqstan and Cavendish Vinokourov says, is that they may have rather more time to plan out the next season. In 2022, Cavendish’s signing was very a lot last-minute they usually may barely contract any extra riders past the Briton himself.
In stark distinction, the information on Wednesday that Cavendish’s former leadout man Michael Mørkøv and Soudal-QuickStep coach Vasilis Anastopoulos will each be becoming a member of the squad, the latter as head of efficiency, felt very very like a boosted assertion of intent regarding Astana’s need to assist Cavendish take Tour de France stage win quantity 35 in 2024.
“Already after the Tour we talked with Mark and we mentioned we’d do the utmost to attempt to change issues,” Vinokourov mentioned. “This 12 months within the Tour, we had been missing a final man within the sprints.
“However sooner or later, we’ve acquired Cees Bol,[Yevgeni] Fedorov, [Alexey] Lutsenko and [new signing Davide] Ballerini as riders who will have the ability to go on enjoying a strong function for us” – on the time of talking, new signing Michael Mørkøv had not been formally confirmed, however he would absolutely kind a part of that equation as properly – “not simply within the Tour, however within the Classics as properly.”
The will to maneuver on from the 2023 season and look forward is powerful, Vinokourov says. “We had a whole lot of illness within the crew, guys crashing out and so forth. Not a lot you are able to do below these circumstances, nevertheless it’s true it was a little bit of a disaster for us.”
One of many few, very main, vibrant spots got here within the Giro d’Italia, Vinokourov says, when Cavendish scored Astana’s greatest victory of the season on the final day of the race. And there could be little doubt that a lot of the crew’s important focus for 2024 will as soon as once more be on what Cavendish can obtain.
“It’s true that win gave him a whole lot of confidence,” Vinokourov says. “And within the Tour, we had some actual near-misses earlier than he crashed out. I hope that’ll encourage him once more.”
“Like I mentioned to Mark, in case your head’s nonetheless in it, then the remainder of you remains to be in it. If you wish to do one other season, you’ll be able to. It’s what your head tells you that issues.”
Cavendish will journey the Tour of Türkiye (October 8 – 15) however as Vinokourov says “It’s largely as a result of he wants to complete the 12 months with a race in his legs. If he does that, then the next 12 months he’ll be faster moving into kind.
“It’s possibly not for profitable, however to assist [sprinter Gleb] Syritsa or Cees Bol, possibly even when Andrey Lutsenko goes for the GC, he’s acquired good kind.
“Then we’ll take a look at subsequent season late on, we’re doing a team-building camp on October 19 and October 20 and there we’ll resolve. However there will probably be some modifications within the coaching schedule in comparison with this 12 months. We’ll be performing some issues in a different way.”
Vinokourov has no concept, he says, whether or not Cavendish will return to the Giro, “however he’ll doubtless do extra coaching camps at altitude. It’ll be necessary to construct for the beginning of the season in addition to the Tour de France. We’ve been speaking about possibly doing a camp in Colombia, we’ll see.”
As for past 2024, come 2025 Vinokourov strongly hopes that Cavendish will proceed to play a job throughout the crew. Varied initiatives have been floated within the media, together with a dash growth crew however as Vinokourov says, nothing has but been determined and varied choices are on the desk.
On the identical time, a quest for a second sponsor for the crew stays a key a part of his future objectives as properly. However with Cavendish firmly on board for subsequent season, 2024’s important sporting purpose is now greater than clear.
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