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United States | Midwest | Ohio >> Mark Cavendish back in the WorldTour as he signs for Astana-Qazaqstan

Mark Cavendish back in the WorldTour as he signs for Astana-Qazaqstan

Rumours are Cavendish and Cees Bol have joined the team on their winter training camp in Spain’s Costa Blanca

Mark Cavendish back in the WordTour as he signs for Astana-Qazaqstan

The 37-year-old sprinter was ready to join B&B Hotels-KTM alongside leadout men Max Richeze and Ramon Sinkeldam, but the French project collapsed in the last month.

American Human Powered Health and Astana-Qazaqstan emerged as prime contenders for signing of the British sprinter.

But unlike the American team, Astana-Qazaqstan have a definate place at the 2023 Tour de France

Astana-Qazaqstan recently sacked Miguel Angel Lopez after doping allegations, freeing up some budget for new riders.

Following the collapse of B&B Hotels, Astan-Qazaqstana team manager Alexander Vinokourov said that “I gave him a phone call saying if he was free then we could talk… For the moment, nothing is decided. Now it’s up to his people to take a step forward. I hope so.”

According to Gazetta dello Sport, the contracts are signed and Cav is already on his way to the Astana training camp in Calpe, Spain.

Astana-Qazaqstan also appears to have signed Cees Bol. The 27-year-old Dutch sprinter would be a huge asset in 37-year-old Cav’s quest for one more Tour stage win.

A spot on Astana-Qazaqstan will be a huge relief for Cav as it opens up a path back to the Tour de France

That means he could have the chance to try and go beyond the record that he and Eddy Merckx currently share, 34 Tour de France stage wins, much to the relief of fans around the world.

All eyes will be on him in July when the Tour de France kicks off in Bilbao.

34 Tour de France Stage Wins

Cavendish opened his Tour de France account the following year and accumulated 30 stage wins at the race over the next nine years to put him within reach of Merck’s record.

But plagued by illness and injury, he was not selected by Dimension Data for the 2019 edition of the race and also missed the delayed 2020 Tour de France as his new team, Bahrain-Merida, also failed to select him.

At the end of that year he secured an 11th-hour move to return to Deceuninck-Quick Step and a last-minute injury to Irish sprinter Sam Bennett opened up Cavendish a place on the Tour, repaying Patrick Lefevere’s faith with four wins stages and the green jersey.

However, there is little room for mood in professional cycling and this summer – although Cavendish put in a whirlwind solo ride to win the British national road championship for the second time in his career – it was Fabio Jakobsen who has recovered from his horrific injuries a crash at the Tour de Pologne in 2020, being chosen as a sprinter by Quick Step-Alphavinyl for the Tour.

Cavendish’s career achievements extend well beyond the Tour de France, of course – three-time world track champion at the Madison and Olympic silver medalist at the Omnium, his road wins include Milan-San Remo 2009, the 2011 World Championships, plus stages at all three Grand Tours, where he is one of the selected riders to have worn the leader’s jersey respectively, and an even smaller group to have won the points competition at the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana.