Mark Cavendish joins MTN-Qhubeka

South Africa cycling team MTN-Qhubeka announced on Tuesday the signing of sprinters Mark Cavendish and Mark Renshaw for next season.

A few people will no doubt be questioning why Cavendish is making the step down to a lower tier team when he is such a big name, and how such a small team is able to afford the global megastar.

Austrian former HTC-Highroad and Team Sky team-mate Bernie Eisel, 34, also joins. “It is a team that I have watched closely as it has grown, especially over this season and been really impressed with the spirit, strength and dynamics of the group”. MTN will leave the team as planned at the close of 2015.

The move to the UCI Professional Continental team is not without its risks. Be the best. Innovate to train harder.

“We are very excited to be part of the squad’s next steps on its journey to accelerate their ambitions, and look forward to helping the team to compete at the highest levels in world cycling, both on the African continent and across the world”.

Cavendish will be joined by wingmen Mark Renshaw and Bernie Eisel.

You could also argue that from next year, Dimension Data won’t exactly be a small team and we think a step up to the WorldTour can’t be that far away.

Cavendish added: “For me personally, one of the biggest incentives is riding for a greater cause in the Qhubeka charity”. The Qhubeka charity provides poor Africans bicycles in exchange for good deeds, such as collecting a certain amount of trash or growing a certain number of trees.

A secondary sponsorship deal with Deloitte has been confirmed and will help cover Cavendish’s wages.

The team is managed by Douglas Ryder and he recognises the significance of the signing.

Cavendish had a hard 2015, whose highlight was a single stage win on the Tour before he withdrew from the world championships following surgery on a shoulder he damaged in a crash during the Tour of Britain.

The team that rode so well at this year’s Tour de France and Vuelta as MTN-Qhubeka have always combined their mission to promote cycling in Africa with the more prosaic business of winning races, gaining column inches and pleasing sponsors. Brian Holm and Rolf Aldag are also rumoured to be joining the Afrian outfit, along with Cavendish’s soigneur, although those contract negotiations have yet to be finalised.