Mark Cavendish took a victory in the Giro d'Italia this year, Astana Qazaqstan Team's biggest moment of the season. At the time he was helped by Geraint Thomas and surfed wheels, but new Team DS Mark Renshaw is confident that the Kazakh team's leadout in 2024 is 'miles ahead'.
"It's miles ahead. Having Morkov with his experience, having Ballerini, Cees Bol, Alexey Lutsenko - he made a good difference at the end of the Tour last year for Cees Bol - Yevgeniy Fedorov... We have some really strong riders who are morphing into more experienced riders," Mark Renshaw said in words to GCN. "Having Morkov there lifts everybody, because when you’re a good sprinter and you have a good lead-out, it really puts the pressure to deliver, because nine times out of 10, Morkov is going to put him in the perfect position. There’s no excuse, you’ve been delivered a straight view of the line and there’s no one impeding you, so you have to step up. Riders will lift with that."
Cavendish has been reunited with Michael Morkov and Davide Ballerini who were the main cogs in his leadout during his successful 2021 season, former leadout man Mark Renshaw who is now a DS with the team, and Vasilis Anastopoulos who was his coach at Soudal - Quick-Step. It was a big investment with the full focus on the Manxman who seeks a record breaking 35th win at the Tour de France. This has convinced the veteran to postpone his retirement, to give it another shot at history. Renshaw was actually signed by the team last year as an analyst for the team, but ultimately takes on a full-time role now.
"Obviously, Cavendish really wanted me to help, especially at this year’s Tour because he was new to the team. He’d only been here a few months and he needed somebody from which he could trust the decisions. I think I really brought some big steps forward to the team as far as analyzing and preparing for sprints." Now, Renshaw has moved back to Europe full-time, leaving Australia once again after he himself retired from pro cycling.
However Renshaw's job is not only to work with the Manxman. The team has signed Max Kanter as another option for the sprints, the team is hoping that he and Gleb Syritsa are able to take a step in their performance and bring more victories to the team throughout the season.
"Ten to 15 victories is achievable, and I'd like to say multiple wins at the Tour de France and other WorldTour one-day races. I think if our top-10 riders combined with the other top-10 riders from the other teams, they’re as good. We don't have the depth of some teams, but our top-10 riders go head to head with some of the other teams, no problem," the Australian concluded.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling forRafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
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