Following the news that Mark Cavendish has put off retirement to race on with Astana Qazaqstan for 2024, the Kazakhstani team have announced the signing of Michael Mørkøv.
The Dane's move to Astana has been rumoured for several weeks as the team look to build a sprint train to deliver Cavendish to a record-breaking 35th stage win at next summer's Tour de France.
Astana also confirmed the signing of Vasilis Anastopoulos, a coach, from Soudal-QuickStep. The Greek ex-pro worked with both Cavendish and Mørkøv at the Belgian team and played a vital role in helping Cavendish make a successful comeback in 2021.
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Confirmation of Mørkøv's signing spells an end to the 38-year-old's six-year spell at Soudal-QuickStep, with the Belgian team looking set to be absorbed into Jumbo-Visma in a mega-merger. Sprinter Fabio Jakobsen is also leaving Soudal-QuickStep for Team dsm-firmenich.
Mørkøv joins Italian Classics man/sprinter Davide Ballerini in making the move from QuickStep to Astana, while German lead-out Max Kanter will be another key man for Cavendish as he joins from Movistar.
Mørkøv said that he was happy to reunite with Cavendish, who he led out so well when the Manxman returned to his best and won four stages at the 2021 Tour de France.
"I am really excited to join Astana Qazaqstan Team in 2024, it is a team which lives a huge development, and I am honoured to come there at the right moment," Mørkøv said.
"And, of course, I am happy to reunite with my former teammate Mark Cavendish to chase the new victories for him but also for Astana.
"Besides, the upcoming year is a year of the Olympics and I have a big ambition to fight again for the gold medal in Madison. The team is ready to provide me good support in chasing this dream and I am really grateful for it.
"In general, I am happy and ready to provide all my experience in cycling to help the team reach its biggest goals throughout the next season."
Mørkøv has established himself as the peloton's top lead-out man over the years, helping the likes of Cavendish, Fabio Jakobsen, Sam Bennett, Elia Viviani, Fernando Gaviria, and Tim Merlier to countless wins at QuickStep.
Astana general manager Alexander Vinokourov praised Mørkøv's wealth of experience, calling him "exactly what our team needs".
"Michael is a true professional and we know him as one of the best lead-out riders in the modern peloton," Vinokourov said. "His experience and his race vision are priceless, and this kind of rider is exactly what our team needs in building up the sprint group where the experience will combine with the youth.
"I hope Michael could be one of the keys in creating a strong group which will be able to chase something important in the next season."
Anastopoulos joins Astana as the team's new head of performance.
Vinokourov said he was looking forward to seeing Anastopoulos work with the team's sprint lineup.
"The experience and knowledge Vasilis possesses can help us to improve the whole race preparation in the team, increasing our performance significantly," Vinokourov said. "At the same time, we also aiming to develop the sprint and I believe Vasilis is the right person for it.
"He is a big professional and with the vision Vasilis has for the key points we have to work on, I believe that in the upcoming seasons, we can improve a lot – both in the direction we chose at the start of this season with the arrival of Mark Cavendish and Cees Bol and in the direction of the stage races and climbing, in working with such riders as Alexey Lutsenko.
"Alongside, young Kazakhstani coaches will get a chance to learn from this valuable experience in their work. We are ready to work hard, so I am looking forward to seeing Vasilis in the team in 2024."
Mørkøv joins Kanter and Ballerini as new additions to an overhauled Astana for 2024.
Climber Lorenzo Fortunato (Eolo-Kometa) is another key addition, while the team has also signed Henok Mulubrhan (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè), Ide Schelling (Bora-Hansgrohe), Anthon Charmig (Uno-X), Harold Martin López and Nicolas Vinokourov (both Astana Qazaqstan Development Team) for the upcoming season.
