“Maybe I was the one who stopped him getting a ‘Sir'" - Vinokourov believes his Olympic victory prevented new Astana signing Cavendish receiving knighthood

Astana Qazaqstan Team's general manager, Alexander Vinokourov has revealed his belief that his London 2012 Olympic road race Gold Medal win prevented one of his newest signing's getting the knighthood he deserves.

Mark Cavendish, a 53-time Grand Tour stage winner and a 4-time points classification jersey winner is regarded by many as the greatest sprinter of all time. However, one thing missing from his palmares is Olympic Gold. With arguably his best chance coming in the London 2012 road race, Cavendish was ultimately disappointed with Vinokourov emerging victorious. In the Kazakh's opinion, this could be the main reason Cavendish has never received a knighthood such as his compatriots Sir Bradley Wiggins, Sir Jason Kenny and Sir Chris Hoy.

“I’ve been over to London with my kids a few times since,” the Astana Qazaqstan manager tells Cyclingnews, “and I went down to Buckingham Palace to see if the finish line from the Olympic Games was still painted in the road. Even though I’ll always know in my head where it was. It was a great way to end my career. Maybe I was the one who stopped him getting a ‘Sir.”

Since retirement, Vinokourov has moved behind the scenes at Astana, guiding the team through everything from the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic to the highs of Vincenzo Nibali's Tour de France victory. 2023 could be the most exciting year yet for the team he believes.

"As I very clearly told the new president of the country in a meeting I had with him, Astana Qazaqstan is a huge project for our country," Vinokourov believes. "We’d got stuck with a budget from around 2015 and our rivals had moved ahead. That wasn’t effective. But it’s confirmed now we’re moving ahead. He agreed that it was great for the country’s image, he thinks we’re a great brand worldwide.”