Mark Cavendish set to return from illness at Tour of Turkey as he continues Tour de France preparation
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Published 18/04/2024 at 08:42 GMT
Mark Cavendish will continue his preparation for a record-breaking 35th Tour de France stage win at the Tour of Turkey. The Astana Qazaqstan rider has been training in Greece for the eight-day race, having spent a month out through illness. Cavendish, now 38-years-old, announced his retirement last season, but backtracked after crashing out the Tour de France.
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Mark Cavendish is set to make his return to cycling at the Tour of Turkey after more than a month away from racing.
The 38-year-old is currently training in Greece with his coach Vasilis Anastopoulos as he prepares for the start of the ProSeries race on Sunday, April 21.
Cavendish is listed in the line-up for Astana Qazaqstan, one of four WorldTour Teams competing in the Tour of Turkey alongside Bora-Hansgrohe, DSM-Firmenich and Alpecin-Deceuninck.
Sam Welsford, Danny van Poppel, Fabio Jakobsen and Aaron Gate are among the other sprinters competing in the eight-day race, which is a 1,253 kilometre course from Antalya to Istanbul.
Cavendish has not competed since March after falling ill at Milano-Torino, but now appears ready to get his final season back on track.
He had announced his retirement during the 2023 Giro d'Italia, but backtracked on his decision after crashing out of the Tour de France before he could break the record of 35 stage wins.
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Cavendish is now aiming for at least one more stage victory at the Tour de France before stepping back from cycling, starting the 2024 season with a stage win at the Tour Colombia.
Illness subsequently slowed Cavendish's progress, but he now plans to compete at the Tour of Hungary in May after the Tour of Turkey. The Tour de France is then scheduled for June 29 to July 21.
In a recent interview with Road Code, a video platform created by Velon, Cavendish denied he was elongating his career because he was addicted to sprinting.
"Sprinting is not an addiction to me, not at all," he said. "Racing is, riding my bike is, but sprinting definitely not. In a sprint I'm okay but before can be pretty terrified. It's definitely not an addiction.
"It's what I do, it's how I'm built. I can sprint and it served me quite well in bike races. I can't really complain. I like sprinting because it's not just about how many watts you can put through a pedal.
"Sprinting holds onto that last bit of tactics that's left. It's about working it out, playing a game of chess, understanding your opponents and the conditions and the finish.
"It's about putting it all together and working out the best way to plan to win. You can change how you win and I love that. Everything is focused on the race; there's no real fear, no real joy, no real emotion. It's quite methodical."
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