What next for Mark Cavendish?
What next for Mark Cavendish?
The King is dead, long live the King – or at least Etixx-QuickStep will not be worrying about life post-Cav if Fernando Gaviria’s performances are anything to go by.
Having twice beaten Cavendish at the Tour de San Luis, the Colombian stagiaire’s Tour of Britain stage win followed another at the Czech Cycling Tour for the Belgian super team.
So after crashing out of what could be his last appearance for Etixx-QuickStep, with rumours circulating about his future, what next for Britain’s sprinting king?
A near miss on stage one, where he left the door just too far open for Elia Viviani to sneak through, was the closest he came to stage success and he will have to hope he can bounce back from injury quick to lead the British charge at the World Championships.
But as for his racing future, Trek Factory Racing or MTN-Qhubeka are said to be his two most likely destinations, with the latter dependent on him bringing in a new sponsor.
Lead-out man Mark Renshaw has already said he will stick with the Manx Missile too, so how would he fit into those teams?
At Trek, their Vuelta a Espana stage wins show they are primed for a leading sprinter to be added to their mix but MTN-Qhubeka would be an equally good fit.
In Edvald Boasson Hagen, Tyler Farrar and Reinardt Janse van Rensburg – the trio who led their sprinting challenge at both the Tour de France and Tour of Britain – the African team appear to be just one seriously fast man away from being a serious unit.
Add Cavendish and Renshaw to the mix, and an almost certain promotion to WorldTour level, and the move could be a real fillip for both teams.
Either way, do not write Mark Cavendish off. Never write Mark Cavendish off.