Mark Cavendish's bike: What is the British champion riding in 2023?
Is this the bike to break the record for most Tour de France stages?
Hailing from the Isle of Man in Great Britain, Mark Cavendish is easily one of the most accomplished British road cyclists of all time. He has been racing at the top tier of road cycling since joining T-Mobile in 2006 and in the 17 years since, he's taken wins at some of the biggest races on the planet, including one of cycling's five monuments, Milan San Remo, in 2009; the road World Championships in 2011; and stages at all three Grand Tours, the Giro d'Italia, the Vuelta a España, and the Tour de France.
The latter marked the battlefield for what was unquestionably his biggest achievement, though; equalling Eddy Merckx's record for the most stages won at the world's biggest race. With 34 to his name - his last coming in 2021 - Cavendish is just one win away from going out in front alone and making the record his own.
Throughout his time at WorldTour level, Cavendish has rarely settled, spending time at more teams than most. Starting at T-Mobile, he stayed there until 2012 when he joined Team Sky (known today as Ineos Grenadiers). He was there for just one year before moving to Omega Pharma-QuickStep (known today as Soudal-QuickStep). Three years there preceded four at Team Dimension Data (a team that has since folded), during which the Briton was diagnosed with Epstein Barr virus and was all but written off by critics, with a vocal few calling for his retirement.
After those four years, Cavendish moved to Bahrain-McLaren (known today as Bahrain Victorious) for a year, before a return to the QuickStep outfit known then as Deceuninck-QuickStep. To his credit, Cavendish proved his naysayers wrong and returned to winning ways in emphatic style in 2021 with four stages at the Tour.
With a career spanning such a period of time and having spent time at so many different teams, Cavendish has a lot of experience with various bikes, and he's rarely shied away from expressing his opinions about his equipment. To name just a few, he's ridden aboard bikes from Cervelo, Specialized, Pinarello, BMC and Merida, but for 2023, he's onto another.
With his contract running out at QuickStep at the end of 2022, Cavendish has endured an uncertain winter, with endless rumours linking him to pretty much any team with a free spot. After what seemed like forever, a deal with Alexandr Vinokourov was struck, bringing the Briton to Astana Qazaqstan.
What is Mark Cavendish's bike for 2023?
In 2023, Mark Cavendish's bike will come courtesy of Astana Qazaqstan's bike sponsor, the Italian brand Wilier. As a sprinter, he will most often use the brand's aero bike, so will be aboard the Wilier Filante SLR.
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This will be equipped with wheels from the French brand Corima, and a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset. Despite spending much of the past few years on clincher or tubeless wheels courtesy of QuickStep's sponsors Specialized, it appears he will be reverting to tubular tyres, courtesy of Vittoria.
Mark Cavendish's Wilier Filante SLR: Specifications
Frame | Wilier Filante SLR |
Groupset | Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 9250 12-speed |
Brakes | Shimano Dura-Ace 9270 hydraulic disc |
Wheelset | Corima (various, primarily WS+ 47) |
Tyres | Vittoria Corsa Speed tubular 28c |
Cockpit | Wilier Filante Bar integrated cockpit |
Chainset | Shimano Dura ace FC-9200P |
Power meter | Shimano Dura ace FC-9200P |
Pedals | Look Keo 2 Max Carbon |
Saddle | Prologo |
Bottle cages | Tacx Ciro |
Bar tape | Prologo Onetouch Neutro |
Computer | Garmin Edge |
What size is Mark Cavendish's bike?
From the images we have of Mark Cavendish's 2023 bike, we cannot confirm exactly what size he's using. However, we know that like many pros, throughout his career he's opted for bikes much smaller than would otherwise be recommended.
For example, at his 1.75m height, Specialized would recommend a size 56cm frame, but in 2011 when aboard the Venge at Omega Pharma-QuickStep, he rode a minuscule 49cm. That's more like the size you'd expect Caleb Ewan's bike to be.
Such is the pro way, he often pairs his small frames with extra long stems - see Michael Matthews' bike for another example - to offset the short reach while maintaining the low aerodynamic position.
A gallery of Mark Cavendish's bike
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As the Tech Editor here at Cyclingnews, Josh leads on content relating to all-things tech, including bikes, kit and components in order to cover product launches and curate our world-class buying guides, reviews and deals. Alongside this, his love for WorldTour racing and eagle eyes mean he's often breaking tech stories from the pro peloton too.
On the bike, 32-year-old Josh has been riding and racing since his early teens. He started out racing cross country when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s and has never looked back. He's always training for the next big event and is keen to get his hands on the newest tech to help. He enjoys a good long ride on road or gravel, but he's most alive when he's elbow-to-elbow in a local criterium.