Mark Cavendish's lead-out man for 2023 is likely to be Argentine rider Max Richeze.

In an interview with Italian specialist website bici.Pro (opens in new tab), Richeze, who appeared to be wheels down after his last six months with UAE Team Emirates, did not mention Cavendish's name.

He did, however, say he would not compete in this year's Tour de France and would race next season with a rider who was upset as a result.

The unknown rider and he had never been on the same team together, but the rider had always witnessed Richeze race, who had turned pro in 2006.

"We both have something to prove," Richeze said, also claiming that the team's team manager told him that negotiating a contract with the "mystery rider" was "like negotiating a soccer player."

Putting together the clues to this particular riddle, it is not difficult to conclude that Richeze will race for Mark Cavendish next year with a new team of both riders, minus the soccer reference. Of course, Richeze could be referring to someone else.

Adding to the "mystery," according to a report published yesterday in Ouest France, Richeze, 39, has also been linked to Cavendish, and both have reached an agreement to race with the French professional team B&B Hotels p/b KTM in 2023 according to the report.

However, the team later denied all reported information to Cycling News and said it had no further comment.

Wherever he races in 2023, there is no doubt that Richeze has a reputation as a lead-out man, having won two Giro d'Italia races in 2007 and having worked with top riders such as Fabio Jacobsen, Elia Viviani, and Marcel Kittel There is no doubt that he has a reputation as a lead-out man. However, his presence in the world of professional cycling almost came to an abrupt end last winter, when he was forced to leave his home country to join the ranks of the top cyclists in the world of professional cycling.

Richeze told bici.Pro that he was close to ending his career at the end of 2021, before Fernando Gaviria's unexpected six-month extension with UAE Team Emirates in 2022.

However, his final Giro d'Italia race this spring ended in a disagreement with the team over a contract extension, and he returned to Argentina for his last race in June at Elfstedenronde Bruges.

"In July I took some time off until I heard from this friend rider," he told an Italian website.

"I was happy. I had the chance to finish things my way, and when I weighed everything, I knew I could still be strong. So I made the decision to continue."

As for why he was called a "friend of Ryder's," Richeze told bici.Pro: "We were always on different teams. We were always on different teams, but he saw how I worked. And finally, we got to race together."

Richeze also claimed that the same rider "chose the riders, staff and coaches" of the team. He really wants to go back to France."

[30 He's not happy that he didn't make it to France this year, we both have something to prove."

B&B Hotels p/b KTM will hold a press conference in Paris on October 26 to hopefully end the increasingly protracted soap opera over whether the "mystery" rider has actually signed with a French team.