After picking up three stage wins at the 2012 Tour de France with no team assistance, Cavendish was greeted with Brailsford's media comments telling him that he could leave Team Sky at the end of the year if he wished. A shock for the world and the cycling community? Or was their a clause in his contract to allow him to leave after the Olympics?
The media speculation 12 months ago about where Cavendish would end up in 2012 was immense. Would he or would not he sign with Team Sky? Would he sign with a team that used specialized bikes? It was not until Cavendish secured the rainbow colours in Copenhagen that he would reveal that he signed a three year contact with Team Sky for a reportedly 2.3 million dollars a year.
It was not long until many was questioning the motives of Cavendish. Team Sky was created with one objective in mind, and that was not to win the green jersey. Team Sky's blueprint was to win the Tour de France with a British rider within five years. While Cavendish ticks the box for being a British rider, he was never going to win the Tour.
2012 would be the year of Team Sky on its quest to win the elusive Tour de France. Wiggins had won the Paris to Nice at the start of the season and was he the stand out performer at the Critérium du Dauphiné. Wiggins. He went into the Tour de France as the hot favourite. In fact there was speculation that Cavendish would not make the team, but would concentrate on winning the Olympics road race.
Cavendish in the end was selected. But there was limited support for him. Only Bernie Eisel was selected specifically to help him. There would be no sprint trains that helped him win so many stages for HTC.
After the race Cavendish was heard comparing his position to like “playing Wayne Rooney in defence.” Has the love affair with the British team hit the rocks? But what was Cavendish really expecting from the Tour. He should have been happy that he won three stages, including the last stage on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées with Wiggins working in his corner to hunt down the breakaway.
If he thought 2012 was tough, 2013 will be no different for Cavendish. Team Sky will throwing all its resources at either defending Wiggins title or helping Froome win his maiden Tour de France (should he stay at the team - which is becoming more and more unlikely). Cavendish better get used to the fact that it will not be able securing the green jersey at the Tour.
Some media reports have suggested that Cavendish signing for Team Sky was a marriage of convenience. One that would help him secure gold at the London Olympics as Brailsford would be able to monitor him closely. There was no fairy tale for Cavendish. His hope for gold was left in tatters when Team GB could not control the breaks.
When the trading season opens up on 1 August, speculation will again focus on Cavendish. While he jump ship or stay. Let's try to analyse that.
Cavendish will get support from his team to win the red sprinting jersey at the Giro d'Italia. A country were he lives. He will get support in races like Tour of Qatar or even the Tour Down Under. But he will be playing second fiddle to Team Sky's GC ambitions at the Tour.
The question for the cycling community is will that be enough for the world champion.
Let's be frank, Cavendish should never had signed for Team Sky if he had ambitions of winning the Green jersey at the Tour de France. May be it was British pride that led to him signing on the dotted line. Or the hope that working with Brailsford will help him win one of the last prizes he was yet to win.
But if he was hungry for higher honours at the Tour de France, there were 17 other teams where he would have received greater support in France.
I will not be surprised if Cavandish walks away from Team Sky at the end of the season. In fact, we may well see Cavendish back riding a specialized bike at:
It is a team that could afford to pay his salary. It is a team that will support him win green at the Tour just like it did to Boonen in 2007.
The next two months will be interesting as we all speculate where Cavendish will be heading in 2013.
Regardless of where he ends up, we all hope to see more of this on the roads of Europe.
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