The highs and lows of Mark Cavendish’s Etixx-QuickStep career – Road Cycling UK

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The highs and lows of Mark Cavendish’s Etixx-QuickStep career

Rollercoaster three years with Belgian super team comes to an end

Rollercoaster rider

  • Mark Cavendish, Omega Pharma-Quickstep, blue jersey, podium, pic: Sirotti

    Mark Cavendish's time with the QuickStep team has been a rollercoaster ride (Pic: Sirotti)

  • Mark Cavendish, Giro d'Italia, stage 21, salute, pic: Stefano Sirotti

    Mark Cavendish picked up the red jersey at the 2013 Giro d'Italia thanks to five stage wins (pic: Sirotti)

  • Cavendish claimed the British champion's jersey in 2013 after victory in Glasgow (Pic: Vaughn Ridley/SWPix.com)

  • Mark Cavendish and Peter Sagan, Tour de France 2013, stage ten, finish, pic: ©Stefano Sirotti

    Cavendish finished third on stage ten of the Tour de France and was sprayed with urine the following day after some 'fans' believed the Manx Missile to have caused Tom Veelers' crash (Pic: Sirotti)

  • Mark Cavendish, Tour de France, 2013, stage 13

    Cavendish's stage 13 victory in 2013 showed him at his very best, as he beat the crosswinds to claim victory (Pic: Sirotti)

  • Marcel Kittel, Mark Cavendish, pic: Bruno Bade/ASO

    Marcel Kittel and Mark Cavendish are just two riders set for new teams in 2016 (Pic: Bruno Bade/ASO)

  • Mark Cavendish, crash, Tour de France, stage one, Harrogate, pic: Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com

    Cavendish nurses his shoulder after crashing in Harrogate - the Manxman wants to finally pull on the yellow jersey at this year's Tour (Pic: Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com)

  • Mark Cavendish, Dubai Tour, blue jersey, podium, Circle of Stars, Etixx-QuickStep, 2015, pic: Claudio Peri/ANSA

    Mark Cavendish celebrates with the blue jersey and Circle of Stars trophy at the Dubai Tour (Pic: Claudio Peri/ANSA)

  • Mark Cavendish, Elia Viviani, Andre Greipel, sprint, Wrexham, Tour of Britain, 2015, stage one, pic - The Tour

    Elia Viviani beat Mark Cavendish by the narrowest of margins on the Wrexham finale of stage one of the 2015 Tour of Britain. Cavendish later crashed out of the race (Pic: The Tour)

Rollercoaster rider

Mark Cavendish will leave Etixx-QuickStep after three years with Patrick Lefevere’s Belgian super team, after MTN-Qhubeka secured the Manx Missile’s signature.

The 26-time Tour de France stage winner left Team Sky following a solitary season in 2012 in pursuit of more support at Grand Tours and a team built around his sprinting ambitions. And a 100th career victory and the Giro d’Italia red jersey – to complete the full collection of Grand Tour points jerseys – swiftly followed.

Mark Cavendish pens three-year deal with MTN-Qhubeka

But it hasn’t all been plain sailing for Cavendish over the past year years, and a misfiring sprint train, the rise of Marcel Kittel and resurgence of Andre Greipel, alongside ill-timed crashes and injuries have made it a rollercoaster ride for the 2011 world champion.

Nevertheless, as he and former HTC team-mates Mark Renshaw and Bernie Eisel embark on a new chapter in their careers with MTN-Qhubeka (with the team to be rebranded as Team Dimension Data for 2016), we’ve picked out the highs – and lows – of Cavendish’s three years with QuickStep.

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