Mark Cavendish describes Astana as the “perfect opportunity” as he eyes Tour de France stage win record

Mark Cavendish may be nearing his 38th birthday but the passion and desire required to compete at the top level of World Tour cycling is still coursing through his veins. With his new Astana Qazaqstan Team, he believes he has the “perfect opportunity” to make history.

With 34 individual Tour de France stage wins to his name, Cavendish is tied with the great Eddy Merckx for the all-time record at the 120-year-old race and after suffering the disappointment of not being picked as part of the Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team at last year's Tour, the British National Road Race champion is determined to not let the next opportunity he gets pass him by.

“Me coming to Astana, I don’t just want a job. If things aren’t right it’s not going to happen. Astana’s the perfect opportunity to win in sprints. It’s something the team hasn’t done before, but my god, they’ve got the capacity to do it. It’s really exciting," the Manx Missile tells Eurosport. 

“There are a lot of sprinters that see themselves as leaders, and everyone has to work for them. I’ve never seen a sprint like that," he continues. “The sprinter is just the last part of that system. He or she has to get it as right as everyone else, but every single piece of that sequence has a knock-on effect. If they do it right or wrong, it has a knock-on effect, not just on the person after them but everyone after that.”