In the twilight of his career, Brit Mark Cavendish has signed a one-year contract with Deceuninck-Quick Step, a team he raced for between 2013 and 2015. After four seasons with Dimension Data and a year with Bahrain-McLaren, the 35-year-old Manx Missile is back with the Belgian squad, his contract for one year.
Cavendish’s palmares is stunning: 146 pro wins including 30 stage wins in the Tour de France, the 2008 Milan-San Remo and the 2011 world road championship. He has claimed the points jerseys in all three Grand Tours. The Dimension Data years were stingy ones: 2016 was the last year he had more than one win, while 2017 and 2018 produced one triumph each. He hasn’t won since 2018.
On Saturday Cavendish posted an allusion to Quick Step’s nickname, the Wolfpack, on Twitter.
🤔 pic.twitter.com/hFtGHz7hU8
— Mark Cavendish (@MarkCavendish) December 5, 2020
The team was more direct about the announcement.
World Champion
Milano-Sanremo
48 Grand Tour stages
Points jersey in all three Grand ToursWe could go on forever with his palmares, but we’ll stick to the main news.
For 2021, @MarkCavendish is back in the pack!
Read more here: https://t.co/DDfdx7L0TS pic.twitter.com/YnvcSNGiI5
— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) December 5, 2020
Deceuninck-Quick Step’s main sprinter is Irishman Sam Bennett. He had seven wins in 2020, including two in the Tour de France and one in the Vuelta a España. He also earned the points jersey in the Tour.
