Mark Cavendish with sponsor problems – Cycling News
UCI Elite Men’s Road Race World Champion Mark Cavendish is close to signing a deal with team Sky but the news has not been confirmed as yet. There were rumours that the cyclist might join team Omega Pharma-Quick Step for the coming season which has now been
denied by Quick step manager, Patrick Lefevere.
Mark Cavendish is individually sponsored by Nike however, Adidas is the sole sponsor for team Sky and if Cavendish joins the team he will lose his sponsor. Team Sky is keen to have the rider in their squad as team manager Dave Brailsford mentioned that he
will ensure that Cavendish will have all the help possible for the London Olympics 2012.
Brailsford is also the Performance Director of British Cycling and managing the British national team comes under his responsibilities. He stated that it will be really sad if team Sky misses this opportunity to have Cavendish in their line-up and “bitter”
if the he rides for a foreign team.
The rumour of Cavendish joining Quick Step was originated because of the fact that the World Champion prefers to ride on his personalised bike and team Sky uses Pinarello bikes. It was said that Team Omega Pharma-Quick Step will provide him with his own
specialised bike and that Cavendish will ride for Patrick Lefevere’s team.
Patrick has now confirmed that he has no intentions of signing Mark as he mentioned that he has not even spoken to the cyclist lately. He commented, "This season I have not yet exchanged three words with Cavendish. I have negotiated with his friend and teammate
Bernhard Eisel. He was quite clear to me and said: 'Sorry, but Mark needs to go to Sky for many reasons and I am going along. We have now been signed.' So, to my knowledge Cavendish is no longer free.”
It will be interesting to see if team Sky finds a solution to the sponsor issue and convince the World Champion to ride for them in the London Olympics 2012. Olympics next year will be the home tour for Cavendish and he is a strong favourite for the event
next year.
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