Kaden Groves close to replacing Mark Cavendish as lead sprinter in Astana for 2025

With Mark Cavendish and Michael Morkov set to retire at the end of the season, it would be a shame to abandon the big sprint train project in Astana after a 2024. However without a clear high-profile finisher, the team managers had to scoop around the market to find the right replacement for the Manx misile.

And it seems like they have been more than successful in their search as multiple reports, including Gazzetta dello Sport confirm that a deal with Kaden Groves is very close to taking its final shape. The Australian wasn't able to find the support he wished for at Alpecin-Deceuninck where the obvious no. 1 remains Jasper Philipsen.

But that is not to say that Groves has been having a bad year at Alpecin. Despite a knee injury hampering most of his spring, the 25-year-old sprinter returned at Giro d'Italia in a great shape, finishing second twice in a stage, while he was third on two occasions too. Ultimately this was enough to put him in a runner-up position for the Maglia Ciclamino.

According to a report in L'Equipe in June, a large reshuffle is around the corner at Astana Qazaqstan. More than half of Alexander Vinkourov's team is reportedly out of contract and many leaders including the face of the team in recent years Alexey Lutsenko reported to be on his way out to Israel - Premier Tech.