Mark Cavendish's desire to become the greatest sprinter may not become a reality, says Eurosport expert Adam Blythe
Cavendish has yet to join a new team for the next season. Adam thinks his age plays a significant factor in the selection process. “There are a lot of reasons why he might not get a contract. His age now,” said Blythe.
Blythe believes he may have a chance with small teams, but joining an established team is hard. “ A lot of teams would pay big money for him. A lot of smaller teams to try and even get into the Tour de France – having Mark Cavendish there, the publicity around it. But bigger teams would look at it, spend what wants to be paid on six other young riders coming through, and get a lot more bang for their buck. Because he ultimately might not get this win,” said Blythe.
He also pointed out how teams function and focus more on GC, which may not be possible with Cavendish focusing on his own record.“If you look down the list of World Tour level teams, lots of them are going to the Tour de France focused on GC. They don’t want to split the team and have sprint ambitions simultaneously, while lots of the other teams that aren’t are already focused on another sprinter,” concluded Blythe.