Vinokourov 'close' with new sponsor ahead of Tour de France as he seeks Mark Cavendish replacement for 2025

Alexandre Vinokourov, the boss of the Astana Qazaqstan team, has told GCN that he is close to announcing a second title sponsor ahead of the Tour de France and that he’s on the lookout for a sprinter to replace Mark Cavendish when the veteran hangs up his wheels at the end of the year.

Vinokourov, talking to GCN at the Giro d’Italia, confirmed that he was also on the lookout for a new GC rider as he tries to enhance his squad and keep Astana in the WorldTour.

“We are looking to a GC rider and a sprinter because Mark is stopping. We are already on the road for a second sponsor and to go up with our budget,” Vinokourov said.

“We have found someone for a sponsor and we hope to make an announcement at the Tour de France. The team budgets are going up every year and we need to survive with a second sponsor. We need to be competitive. We are on the road with the second sponsor. It’s close,” he added.

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Astana ended the 2023 season in 20th place in the UCI teams ranking and currently lie 22nd in the 2024 standings, meaning they need an upturn in results in the next 18 months to avoid relegation from the 18-team WorldTour when the next round of licences are handed out in 2026.

There are few GC riders on the market this season but when GCN threw out the name of Jayco-AlUla's Simon Yates – one of the few stage race all-rounders available – Vinokourov agreed that such a rider was an option. He also mentioned João Almeida, although the Portuguese rider has a contract with UAE Team Emirates for the next few seasons.

“Why not, Simon Yates. João Almeida, I don’t know if he’s on the market but there might be a solution. We will see,” Vinokourov said.

However, the immediate future of Vinokourov and his roster centres around the Tour de France and Mark Cavendish’s quest to become the leading Tour de France stage winner of all time. He’s currently tied with cycling legend Eddy Merckx on 34 wins each. After a bumpy spring disrupted by illness, Cavendish looks back on track after taking a stage win in the Tour de Hongrie.

“He did [Tour of] Turkey and then Tour de Hongrie, won his stage and he’s in good shape. Like always, races are a big objective for Mark. His form is going up and he’s doing a training camp at Sierra Nevada, and he’s working well,” Vinokourov said.

When asked what it would mean for Cavendish to win that elusive stage win, Vinokourov said: “We’ll see what it feels like if we win. We fix our goals, we work hard and we believe. That’s the most important.

“There won’t be a GC rider at the Tour de France,” he added. “We’ll chase the stage wins with Mark and then we’ll see with [Alexey] Lutsenko, maybe try and jump in breakaways for more stages. Now we’re trying to finish in the top 10 at the Giro d’Italia.

“We have [Davide] Ballerini for the sprint on Thursday and then in Rome. After that, we have the Asian Championships in our country in two weeks and then it’s the Dauphiné and then the Tour de Suisse with Mark before the Tour de France.”

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