Mark Cavendish has still to confirm his team for next season and the topic was not up for discussion when the lights went up in the Palais des Congrès after the presentation of the route of the 2023 Tour de France.
“I’m here to talk about the Tour de France and the Tour de France Femmes,” Cavendish said carefully.
Cavendish has been heavily linked with a move to Jerome Pineau’s B&B Hotels squad for 2023, but the team this week cancelled a press conference that had been scheduled to take place in Paris on the eve of the Tour presentation. Pineau has since made assurances that the team will soon resolve its problems and register with the UCI for 2023.
Yet even though it still remains to be seen for whom Cavendish will ride in 2023, the Manxman has a very clear idea of where he wants to race.
“The Tour de France is the most incredible bike race, the biggest bike race on the planet,” he said.
Cavendish has won a record-equalling 34 stages at the Tour, but he was omitted from QuickStep’s selection this past July, denying him a chance to surpass Eddy Merckx. In 2023, that ongoing quest would more or less guarantee a wildcard invitation to the Tour for any ProTeam willing to sign Cavendish.
The 2023 Tour is one of the most mountainous in recent memory, with just 22km of time trialling on the route, but first glances can be deceptive.
“The Tour de France is always hard, isn’t it? It’s the Tour de France,” Cavendish suggested.
Despite a difficult start in the Basque Country and an early trek through the Pyrenees, Cavendish spied multiple opportunities for the sprinters as the race unfolds.
“I think the start is going to be the hardest I’ve seen in my career. But it’s exciting, it’s going to be a good show I think, it will change things up with the GC riders dictating things early on instead of settling into it,” the 37-year-old predicted
“But if the sprinters can survive the mountains, they’ve got ample opportunities for real bunch sprints. Long boulevard finishes of more than a kilometre of a final straight. It will make for exciting days all around.”
Asked to put a number on it, Cavendish said: “There’s maybe seven or eight sprint opportunities. It’s a lot, you know. Real sprint opportunities.”
