Few could have predicted Mark Cavendish shacking up with Alexandre Vinokourov this winter, but could the Manx Missile’s Astana lifeline turn out to be a marriage made in heaven? After the B&B Hotels implosion, the 37-year-old was on the brink of signing for second-tier Human Powered Health before Astana cleared a Superman-shaped space in their roster to keep Cavendish’s WorldTour dream alive.
Barring disaster, Cavendish should now have the chance to become the outright leading stage winner in the Tour de France in July – a record he