With speculation continuing about where Mark Cavendish could wind up racing in 2012, potential Sky Procycling team-mate Bradley Wiggins has said that he would welcome his fellow Briton on board. However Wiggins also acknowledges that things could be different than when they last raced together, when the entire Columbia team was built around the sprinter.
Wiggins has moved on from that time and is now regarded as a Grand Tour contender. He was targeting a top three finish this year, something Sky team principal Dave Brailsford said after the Tour would have been very feasible, but crashed early on and had to retire from the race.
He plans to return in future years and focus completely on attempting to win the race. The outcome of that bid could affect how much support is given to Cavendish should they be racing on the same team.
“If you have the Yellow Jersey with a week to go, you're going to need eight riders to ride on the front [of the peloton] day in, day out, for six days,” he said, according to Sportinglife.com.
“At that point, it would be detrimental to have someone like Mark in the team, as he can't ride on the front or he's going to be at a disadvantage going into the mountains.
"But I think if I was going for a top five GC [general classification] it's no different to what we did this year. I don't see any conflict in that area - we've always done the leadout one way or another for someone. The thing with Mark is that you know 99 times out of 100 if you do that leadout then he's going to win.”
"That helps the cause and helps the morale in the team - and Mark's an incredible guy to have around.”
Because of that, he would prefer if Cavendish decides to come on board. “I only see his arrival - if he does come and signs and they get all the things sorted out - as a benefit all round."
Cavendish has indicated that he has made a decision about his future team. However he stated that he doesn’t plan on revealing the details at this point in time, but instead will wait.
His current HTC Highroad team owner Bob Stapleton confirmed this week that the squad wouldn’t continue past the end of the season. He had been searching for a backer for several months but said that nothing satisfactory could be secured.
As a result of that, the riders and staff are all on the market. Cavendish is likely to take several riders with him to whatever team he has chosen.
Sky Procycling has long been tipped as the most likely choice, although in recent days some speculation has also centred around GreenEdge.