Mark Cavendish is targeted on reaching way over only one extra Tour de France stage victory throughout 2023, explaining to The Instances that he’s nonetheless going at 37 just because he loves racing and has a brand new alternative at Astana Qazaqstan with out the pressures and expectations of the previous.
“The aim is profitable. Not one specific win, it’s profitable,” Cavendish made clear in a protracted interview with The Instances (opens in new tab) earlier than travelling to the Center East to make his season debut on the Tour of Oman.
“The Tour de France is what I’ve at all times set my profession round, and from outdoors I’m properly conscious [what people will say]. We’re at that time I can stand alone [from Merckx]. One other win on the Tour is the whole lot to individuals however, for me, it’s not one win, it’s two or three, no matter I can do.
“For me it’s fairly easy. I can proceed using my bike, I can proceed profitable, so why not do it? I find it irresistible. I really like racing. It’s modified. The racing will not be as pleasurable however I nonetheless find it irresistible.”
The Instances revealed {that a} Netflix documentary is in manufacturing about Cavendish’s profession, which started in 2005. There’s numerous floor to cowl, together with his improvement inside and outdoors the Nice Britain monitor staff, his Tour de France debut in London in 2007, his 2009 Milan-San Remo win, his world title in Copenhagen in 2011 and, after all, these 34 Tour de France stage victories.
Cavendish has additionally confronted and overcome big challenges, together with Epstein Barr Virus and medical despair whereas within the hardest years of his profession between 2017 and 2020. He fought again to win 4 levels on the 2021 Tour de France with Patrick Lefevere’s QuickStep staff, solely to be snubbed for a Tour place in 2022 after which let go.
He was set to guide the French B&B Resorts staff in 2023, solely to see the venture collapse because of an absence of sponsorship. A shock cellphone name from Astana Qazaqstan supervisor Alexander Vinokourov provided him an fascinating lifeline and a brand new chapter in his profession.
Cavendish seems refreshed by Vinokourov’s much less pressured method and is motivated for the season forward, regardless of the current public trial in Britain that introduced again the trauma of a 2021 knifepoint theft at Cavendish’s household residence.
“I really feel I’ve been leaping via hoops for years,” Cavendish stated of his current seasons.
“First, the Dimension Knowledge years when it was the staff’s fault I used to be sick however I received thrown underneath the bus for it. That damage. Bahrain, even Fast-Step, I couldn’t put together, set a goal. That is the primary time I can set a aim and work in direction of it fairly than really feel I’ve to show myself simply to get the chance.”
Cavendish lastly signed with Astana Qazaqstan in early January after already attending a coaching camp, with Vinokourov giving him time to stick with his household at residence across the time of the trial.
The staff are working laborious to assist Cavendish within the sprints, with Cees Bol additionally coming onboard as a lead out man and former sprinter and Champs Elysées stage winner Stefano Zanini because the staff’s dash directeur sportif.
“I’ve been in groups the place I’ve been idolised and that’s laborious. You are feeling remoted. You are feeling that stress. I’ve been in groups the place I’ve been kicked, not bodily, however that’s additionally not good. Right here I simply really feel revered for what I’ve achieved, what I can obtain, and as an individual,” Cavendish defined of his resolution to hitch Astana Qazaqstan.
“Vino rang and stated, ‘What do you suppose? I gained’t have the ability to pay you what B&B would however come right here, there’s no stress’.
“We talked about the advantages but additionally what occurs if I’m not profitable, the way it goes the opposite means, and he simply stated, ‘It doesn’t matter. If we don’t win, we don’t win, however we go on attempting.’ No person had spoken to me like that in a very long time, a extremely very long time.
“It’s why it was good speaking to Vino. I felt I didn’t should justify myself, my profession, my age. It’s ‘Can I win? Will I be comfortable?’ There’s stress that comes with my identify, and industrial elements, however I simply wished honest compensation.”
Vinokourov comes along with his personal baggage as a rider from biking’s darkest blood doping period of the Nineties however Cavendish is solely in what he detects of the staff tradition now.
“All I’ve seen is respect, not as in holding you excessive up however seeing that you’re a particular person, not a commodity,” he stated.
