The rumours linking Mark Renshaw with Rabobank have been confirmed by the Dutch team, announcing that the 28-year-old Australian has signed on a two-year contract. Renshaw, who has perfected the art of sprint lead outs with Mark Cavendish at HTC-Highroad, will finally be sprinting for himself, as well as working alongside the his new sprinter teammate Theo Bos.
"Renshaw has excellent qualities, extensive experience in the sprinting field, he can work for others as well as winning himself,” said Rabobank’s technical director Erik Breukink. “The fact that the initiative came from Renshaw says a lot about the esteem in which riders hold our team."
Renshaw is arguably one of the fastest riders in the peloton but, since teaming up with Cavendish in 2009, has taken very few results for himself. This season his sole victories came in the form of a stage win and overall title at the Tour of Qatar, as Cavendish was recovering from a crash in the Tour Down Under the week before.
Arguably, the Australian’s biggest result in his three years at HTC-Highroad came on the Champs-Elysées at the end of the 2009 Tour de France, when he gave Cavendish such a powerful lead out that he was able to cross the line in second place behind the Manxman.
With his new team though, Renshaw wants to add more victories to his personal palmares, but knows his experience will be invaluable to his new teammates.
"For many years I’ve helped others to win race, now I'm going to try to win some of the biggest competitions myself,” he said. “The Rabobank cycling team is one of the most professional teams with a solid structure, which means that I can pursue my goals.
“I’m looking forward to sharing my experience,” he added, “helping Theo Bos and the Rabobank cycling team to take victories."
Bos himself was almost unbeatable as a sprinter on the track has yet to succeed in translating that devastating speed to the road; the 27-year-old Dutchman is very excited about his new teammate.
"Mark is the best lead out man in the world,” he said. “I'm really thrilled that Renshaw has chosen us. The partnership with Mark will help me in my own development."
The announcement of Renshaw’s move across to the Dutch team confirms the breaking up of one of the most successful lead out man/sprinter partnerships in modern cycling. How successful the Australian can be on his own, or even how successful a partnership he might be able to build with a rider like Bos will be interesting to see; as will be interesting to see if the Manx Missile can be quite so devastating with a new launchpad.