Mark Cavendish's transfer to Astana "beneficial for everybody" says Luis León Sánchez

One of the biggest transfer stories of the winter was that of Mark Cavendish, who saw himself in a team on the path to collapse, before a surprise last-minute signing back into the World Tour with Astana Qazaqstan Team. Now settled in, teammate Luis León Sánchez gives his opinion on the move.

"I think it's beneficial for everybody. Because in Astana we need a point of reference, and Cavendish gets a team that's in the WorldTour, that guarantees him participation in all the WorldTour races and which has been well-established and part of the racing scene for a very long time," Sánchez told Cyclingnews. 

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Cavendish was set to join B&B Hotels-KTM throughout the winter, a signing that was not made public. It was then understandable that the reason behind was the lack of confirmation of the team's financial situation. Eventually the collapse occured as the team could not achieve it's goals, all riders and staff were left without a contract already in December.

Then comes in Astana. Miguel Ángel López had been fired from the team following suspicions of use of prohibited substance and the team let the Colombian go. With barely any big riders on the market and a lot of budget now available, the match was evident. The Kazakh team never had a big focus on the sprints, but 2023 has become a year of change, with both he and Cees Bol coming in to lead the team.

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"He's already been in the team training camps, he's a chaval muy majo (a great guy, ed.) who is very approachable. And as for us, we'll try to be at the level he needs so he can pull off the wins," Sánchez describes. Cavendish will make his debut for the team at the upcoming Tour of Oman, followed by the UAE Tour where he will seek his first win in blue.

"It's something we'd all love to see happen. For Cavendish as a culmination of his career and for the team to be part of that would be something really special. We're going to try it in the Tour, we know it's not going to be easy, the young riders are coming up fast and some teams are built exclusively around sprinters," Sánchez continues, with the clear goal of the Tour de France in mind.

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"But we'll keep forging our own path, in the first races that win likely won't come through so quickly, but we'll give it everything to make sure further down the line they do," he says.

"When it comes to learning a trade, whatever it is, it's a process. As you said, we're not a team with a strong tradition of sprinting, but we've already got Bol who's already been up there in the Saudi Tour. We've got [Davide] Martinelli, other guys who are fast. It likely won't be a question of just rocking up and winning in the first races we do, we'll have to train and work on putting the lead-outs together and for sure it'll take us some time. But that's what we're here to do. And the victories he wants and above all the team needs will surely come," Sánchez concluded. 

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