Last evening after returning from the hospital @MarkCavendish visited the team’s hotel to say goodbye to his teammates. Today he’ll fly home. A very fast recovery, good luck, thank you for the great moments and see you soon, Mark! #TDF2023 #AstanaQazaqstanTeam
"He’s got the talent and speed to do it" - Former DS Rolf Aldag argues Mark Cavendish should reconsider decision to retire
CyclingWednesday, 12 July 2023 at 12:20
Mark Cavendish announced his departure from pro cycling at the Giro d'Italia. He then won a stage in spectacular fashion, however his Tour de France stint ended prematurely with a crash the day following a second spot. Rolf Aldag who guided him at the former HTC team argues the Manxman could continue.
“He’s got the talent and speed to do it, but he needs to think long and hard about what the implications are of sticking around for another season," Aldag, now a DS for BORA - hansgrohe, told Cyclingnews. "My instinct is that he should take time, recover well, breath in and out and then consider all the options. Then if he comes back, if I was him, I’d say that has to come with some conditions and some more support."
Cavendish has been showing good form since May and although he has already accomplished more than virtually any rider has throughout his career, but with the possibility of a record breaking stage win at the Tour de France as a career and epoch defining goal, some argue the Manxman has all the cards in the table to continue his career in the chance of taking another step in making cycling history.
“He should be thankful to Astana for giving him that chance because you know how late his signing was. 'I’m really grateful, guys, for you helping me out. But it’s like - if you want me to continue then there’s point 1, point 2, point 3 we have to work on and we really have to get the structures right'," he says, with the Kazakh team providing little support in the Grand Tours lineup-wise to help his goal of chasing a win.
“But now, let it sink in, then sit back and look at your training files, look at your time away from home, look at all the mental struggles older guys have - ‘ah, modern cycling is crazy, you can’t believe how many risks young kids take…’ Then you weigh that up yourself and with your family," he continues.
"On the other hand if it all works out well and if there is a Tour with a lot of sprint opportunities, too, to increase the number of chances, then Cavendish could well be back on track for a 35th stage victory in 2024."
Read also
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Might be bit isn't. The reason is actually that no one wants to work for free. But that's my point. Incur the costs for a year, make clear that ads are coming and see if it works. No one else has tried this in cycling.Renz15-11-2024
- Plus MVDP now having basically done 4 seasons in 2 years might warrant a slightly longer rest than usual, although even then his will STILL be shorter than 98% of all other pro cyclists in any field.Mistermaumau15-11-2024
- Yes, I’d say they’ve done their job in CX.Mistermaumau15-11-2024
- C’mon, they need this kind of gooey content in winter to stop readers switching off. Medias sowing seeds to provoke discussion and rumours that lead to a self-defined legitimacy to introduce undesired questions during rider interviews in order to boast delivery of “original” contentMistermaumau15-11-2024
- By definition an analogy is always GERMANE, tganjs for pointing out the obvious and revealing you don’t understand its purpose.Mistermaumau15-11-2024
- The reason you don’t see these type of websites often and certainly not in cycling might be that they die before you find them. But tell us about it when you’re done I’ll visit to check it out.Mistermaumau15-11-2024
- Someone should do this: create a cycling news site that is free with no ads. Watch the subscriptions like up. Then carefully and slowly introduce ads. I might do it myself. Sites like CUTD are poorly conceived and consequently a mess. Readers will leave as soon as there is a better alternative.Renz15-11-2024
- Wout still recovering from injuries? Might be more of a factor than any attempted middle finger to the UCI?mobk15-11-2024
- We ll talk about all of this in 10 years - but for now lets stop the bullshitChrisBe14-11-2024
- This may very well be is the least germaine comment I've ever read online.verve82514-11-2024