Mark Cavendish joins Team Dimension Data for 2016 season

MTN-Qhubeka, soon to be known as Team Dimension Data, have announced the signing of 2011 world champion Mark Cavendish for the 2016 season.

Cavendish will be joined by long time leadout man Mark Renshaw and former HTC teammate Bernie Eisel, who leaves Team Sky at the end of the season.

The Manxman, who has hopes of racing on the track at the Rio 2016 Olympics, says he is looking forward to helping the young talent on the team develop.

“It is a team that I have watched closely as it has grown, especially over this season and been really impressed with the spirit, strength and dynamics of the group,” he said. “It’s fair to say that most of the peloton has seen how incredible the team raced this year.

“To join it with the target of helping to win even more races with other strong, experienced household cycling names like Mark Renshaw, Edvald Boasson-Hagen, Tyler Farrar, Daniel Teklehaimanot, Steve Cummings and of course Bernie Eisel is going to be real special, as well as assisting the talent of the young, African riders to top level success.”

With 26 Tour de France stage wins to his name, Cavendish brings unrivaled Grand Tour experience to the Pro Continental team, who made their Tour debut this year.

Cavendish’s move to the African team has been rumoured for months, but with telecommunications company MTN withdrawing its sponsorship at the end of the season the team had to wait until finding new funding before announcing any new signings.

Dimension Data will take over title sponsorship of the team in 2016, while financial services company Deloitte becomes another key backer.

Team principal Doug Ryder said: “Mark Cavendish joining our team is a huge step forward for the team as we strive to get to the next level in world cycling.

“To also integrate Mark Renshaw and Bernie Eisel is a game changer in terms of performance and experience, which, added to the incredible talent we already have in the team opens up many possibilities for us.”