Mark Cavendish could race again in 2024 after team boss offers Manxman lifeline

Mark Cavendish will be offered the chance to keep racing in 2024 after a crash on Saturday ended his dream of claiming a record-breaking 35th career Tour de France stage victory in what is due to be his final season.

Cavendish, 38, suffered a broken right collarbone when he was caught up in an incident with around 60km left of stage eight to Limoges, leaving the race in the back of an ambulance to remain level with Eddy Merckx on 34 Tour stage victories.

He had announced in May that he plans to retire this winter after 17 years as a professional but his Astana-Qazaqstan team boss Alexander Vinokourov, who offered Cavendish a career lifeline last winter after the collapse of the B&B Hotels squad, has said he would happily keep the Manxman on.

“Yes, we want Mark to go on to 2024 and race his 15th Tour de France to win his 35th stage,” Vinokourov told L’Equipe.

“I myself suffered a fractured femur in 2011 on the Tour and it was supposed to be my last year but I didn’t want to stop just like that.”

Vinokourov did continue racing, and won Olympic gold at the London Olympics in 2012.

“I stayed on and fought hard to win the Olympic Games in London the following year,” he added. “Mark has the same mentality and the same determination to achieve his ultimate goal. We’re ready to give him that opportunity. But it’s up to him.”

Cavendish has not spoken publicly since Saturday’s crash, but after being taken to hospital did return to the team’s hotel to thank his team-mates for their support personally.

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