Vinokourov reveals the Tour de France is not the be-all and end-all for Mark Cavendish: "We can't just put everything on the Tour, it'd be too risky"

For many, the Tour de France is synonymous with the career of Mark Cavendish although with him now within touching distance of Eddy Merckx's stage win record, Astana manager Alexander Vinokourov is trying to play down the race's importance.

"We can't just put everything on the Tour, it'd be too risky," Vinokourov says in an interview with Cycling News. "The more victories we get, the better, and if we get there in the Tour this year as well, then – chapeau. But victories in the bag are victories in the bag."

After a disappointing opening to his career at the Astana Qazaqstan Team in the Tour of Oman, Cavendish and Vinokourov are experienced enough to realise that just as Rome wasn't built in a day, connections between sprint trains aren't formed in just one race.

"The important thing, for now, is to get him integrated and feeling happy, because sometimes when you join a new team it's tough. If the atmosphere in a team is good, then for sure you'll always do your best," Vinokourov explains. "We're not going to be going in there like QuickStep, that's for sure, but hopefully, Mark will be able to do some nice sprints. But for now, it's more about getting him fully integrated into the team."