Former world cycling champion Mark Cavendish has joined South African team Dimension Data.
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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.
“To join it with the target of helping to win even more races with other strong, experienced household cycling names like Mark Renshaw, Edvald Boasson-Hagen, Tyler Farrar, Daniel Teklehaimanot, Steve Cummings and of course Bernie Eisel is going to be real special, as well as assisting the talent of the young, African riders to top-level success”.
Cavendish’s agent Simon Bailiff told the Guardian in early September that MTN were one of three teams in the frame, the other two being Trek Factory Racing and Tinkoff-Saxo.
The move to the UCI Professional Continental team is not without its risks.
The team will continue to support the Qhubeka charity, having generated over 4,000 bicycles in its #BicyclesChangeLives campaign. As for the cost, it’s highly likely that part of the deal was that Cavendish brought a few person sponsors to pay his salary.
MTN-Qhubeka became the first African team to compete in the Tour de France this year.
Douglas Ryder, team owner, believes Cavendish’s arrival will help drive the team achieve success.
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.
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“To also integrate Mark Renshaw and Bernie Eisel is a game changer in terms of performance and experience, which, added to the incredible talent we already have in the team opens up many possibilities for us”. In the Vuelta a España, it won a stage with Kristian Sbaragli. Brian Holm and Rolf Aldag are also rumoured to be joining the Afrian outfit, along with Cavendish’s soigneur, although those contract negotiations have yet to be finalised.
