Luka Mezgec: "Mark Cavendish will have a quite challenging year"

Luka Mezgec is a veteran in the peloton and the sprints and he predicts that a tough year lies ahead for Mark Cavendish. The Team Jayco AlUla will be on duty to help Dylan Groenewegen throughout the upcoming season, and he recognizes the difficulties the Manxman may face.

“Mark Cavendish will have a quite challenging year. He is joining the team without bringing any leadout guys with him," Mezgec told Velonews. "They have good guys there, but he will need some races to get the train going. But we know Cav can always surprise and you can never write him off.

Despite the signing of Cees Bol, it won't be an easy task for the Kazakh team to settle in with their new prime goal, of assisting the Manxman to victories in the sprints. The two winter signings of Martin Laas and Gleb Syritsa have proven very valuable after the announcement of Cavendish, however it will take time and a new mindset within the team to make it work.

“If you have every race the same five guys working together there is plenty of opportunities, and enough time to get the train going before the Tour. It depends on the team. If they start changing the teammates, it’s a bit harder. Especially with these races here in the Middle East, and the road is wide, so if it’s just fine-tuning and reading the bunch, these races are good to learn," Mezgec concluded.