The long silence about Mark Cavendish’s future was initially expected to come to an end weeks ago, with the Tour de France green jersey winner giving that timeframe for news about where he would race next season.
As time passed, many then expected the disclosure to take place after the September 1st deadline requested by HTC Highroad owner Bob Stapleton from his riders; however, there was still no word from the Manxman as regards what he was planning to do.
Speculation has been rife for months that he would head to Sky Procycling, a team which is known to have been chasing his signature for a long time. In fact, the team was linked to him before this season, although Stapleton warned off any potential suitors, saying that the rider would see out his contract before being able to go anywhere.
With the end of September approaching, it is surely time for the longest-drawn out announcement in pro cycling to be made. If Sky Procycling is indeed the destination – and, thus far, most expectations are that it will be - today or early next week would appear to be the ideal time to disclose that information.
At or just after the Tour of Britain would appear to be the perfect moment, with media interest at a high, many journalists and camera crews in place, and Sky’s headquarters being a stone’s throw away. The world road race championships are fast approaching, with the Elite road race taking place exactly a week from today.
Few would be surprised if the news comes today, or just before Cavendish heads off to Denmark. Alternatively, his new team could elect to wait until after the worlds, knowing that the attention would be even higher if he were to secure the rainbow jersey in seven days time.
That’s a gamble, however, as the opportunity of using the Tour of Britain/pre-worlds hype as a platform would be less than that if he returns from Copenhagen without the top prize.
Nothing is guaranteed, but the near future could finally bring the announcement that many have been waiting for.