The veteran Argentinian sprinter and lead-out man Max Richeze, who has started his final week as a pro cyclist at the Vuelta a San Juan, has told reporters at his home race that he is “disappointed” in Mark Cavendish, who was officially unveiled as an Astana rider last week after months of seemingly endless speculation surround his future.
According to Richeze, the former world champion had originally asked the 39-year-old to join his sprint train at the now-defunct B&B Hotels outfit but, after the French team’s collapse, allegedly “disappeared” and “stopped answering his phone”, with Richeze only finding out about Cavendish’s move to Astana in the press.
> Mark Cavendish signs for Astana Qazaqstan for 2023 season
Richeze, who is riding for Argentina’s national team as he brings the curtain down on his 16-year pro career this week, was set to join B&B Hotels as part of Cavendish’s personally selected lead-out train alongside Cees Bol, and even attended a pre-season meeting in October.
However, while Bol was able to join Cavendish at Astana as Jérôme Pineau’s ambitious project fell apart in early December, Richeze was seemingly cut adrift, despite believing that he remained part of the British champion’s plan for 2023.
Cavendish in his new Astana colours for 2023
“We should have raced together at B&B, but then the project foundered. I kept talking to Mark, he told me he wanted to take me with him, and we also talked about Astana,” the former UAE Team Emirates and Quick Step rider told Tuttobiciweb.
“Racing with him, thinking of tackling the Tour de France together to try and hit an historic record gave me great motivation. In recent months he had always been looking out for me, so I continued to train seriously because today, even in the first race of the year, you have to be at least 90 percent.”
The 39-year-old also revealed to Cyclingnews: “I was going to be part of his package, along with Cees Bol. There were going to be three of us. But then, from one day to the next, Mark disappeared, and so did his agent, so I only found out in the press that they had signed for Astana.
“In December, he stopped answering his phone, and it was the same with his agent.
“Normally, I was part of his project, he had called me to be a part of it. If he had said to me at the last minute, ‘I’m sorry but there are only two places and I can’t take you with me’, I wouldn't have been angry at all.
“He just needed to be upfront and tell me how things were playing out. I would have understood that. I just didn’t like this attitude where one day, everything was in place and then two days later, I see in the press that he’s signed, and he doesn’t respond to me on the phone anymore.
“That's the only thing, it was a question of respect. I would have understood if I was left without a team, and I would have thanked him all the same for trying to bring me with him. But I didn’t like the lack of communication.”
“A phone call or a message would have been enough,” Richeze concluded to Tuttobiciweb. “He is a great champion, but from a human point of view he disappointed me.”