Although Mark Cavendish has made up his mind about which team he will race for next year, the Manxman has said that he plans to hold off a little longer on revealing where he will compete. Fellow Briton Geraint Thomas has said that he hopes the two will end up racing together as part of Sky Procycling in 2012.
"We've got a good relationship, we're good mates and he's got a lot of mates in Sky and he can see it's a good team,” he told the BBC.
"But there's a lot of other good teams out there as well. He's the fastest man in the world and to be leading him out would be great.
"As they say success breeds success and if we were leading him out and he's winning stages in the biggest races then it will carry the whole team forward."
Cavendish recently took five stage wins in the Tour de France, as well as achieving one of his big career goals in taking the Maillot Vert as most consistent rider. He has picked up 20 stage victories over a four year period, and some are already saying that he could go on to beat the all-time record of 34 stage wins in the race, as held by Eddy Merckx.
He has competed for several years with the HTC Highroad structure, previously known as T-Mobile. That team has been chasing new sponsorship as its current deal is due to finish at the end of the season. During the Tour de France, general manager Bob Stapleton said that he was hopeful that something could be found, but there is still no news as to whether a deal has been done.
Some of its key riders have been linked to other teams. The Velits brothers Peter and Martin have been confirmed as racing for the Quick Step team from next season onwards, prompting some speculation that the battle to secure sponsorship is proving more difficult than envisaged.
Cavendish is long known to be on Sky Procycling’s wish list, particularly as he is seen as a virtual guarantee to take Tour de France stage wins in the future.
Whether or not he does race there next season, Thomas has pledged to work for him in this year’s world road race championships in Cophenhagen. “I think Cav will be the sole leader and everything will be done to help him try and win,” he said.
“He's the fastest guy in the world and it would be wrong of us to go and try and split the leadership.”