Mark Cavendish has signed for South African cycling team MTN-Qhubeka – with their blessing to chase Olympic gold next year.
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Moving with the fomer world champion from Etixx-Quick Step is his leadout man, Mark Renshaw, while the pair will be reunited with former HTC-Highroad team mate Bernie Eisel, who moves from Sky, which he joined with his close friendCavendish in 2012.
His presence, however, will give a media boost to Dimension Data, for whom fellow Briton Stephen Cummings won a Tour stage this year.
He has 26 Tour de France stage wins to his name. “I have watched closely as it has grown, especially over this season, and I’ve been really impressed with the spirit, strength and dynamics of the group”. “It’s fair to say that most of the peloton has seen how incredible the team raced this year”.
There is no simple answer, but Cavendish has not quite delivered the headlines EQS hoped for when they signed him in 2012, there was alarm at his desire to go for a track medal at next year’s Olympics and there is a growing sense that Team Dimension Data are upstarts no more.
Cavendish will be joined by wingmen Mark Renshaw and Bernie Eisel.
The Pro Continental team also announced Tuesday its new professional services sponsor Deloitte “from 2016 onwards”.
“Also, for me personally, one of the biggest incentives is riding for a greater cause in the Qhubeka charity”. The Qhubeka charity provides poor Africans bicycles in exchange for good deeds, such as collecting a certain amount of trash or growing a certain number of trees.
Douglas Ryder, team owner, believes Cavendish’s arrival will help drive the team achieve success.
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Cavendish had a hard 2015, whose highlight was a single stage win on the Tour before he withdrew from the world championships following surgery on a shoulder he damaged in a crash during the Tour of Britain. Eritrean Daniel Teklehaimanot also became the first African to wear the polka dot jersey in the Tour de France. In the Vuelta a España, it won a stage with Kristian Sbaragli.
