Mark Cavendish, who has been interacting with the Kazakhstan team for a month, was spotted with the team car in Spain and appears set to move to Astana Kazakstan for the 2023 season.

The English sprinter is almost officially confirmed to join the team next season, but his future has yet to be announced. The relationship has been ongoing since team boss Alexandre Vinokurov told Cycling News that he was interested in signing Cavendish.

Photos taken by fans at the Alicante airport showed Cavendish loading Astana's team car with luggage.

The photo, taken late Friday night, was the latest confirmation that the Manxman will race at Astana this year.

After leaving Quick Step, Cavendish was set to move to the B&B Hotels-KTM team in France, but the team ultimately collapsed due to sponsorship troubles.

In mid-December, Vinokourov told Cycling News that he called Cavendish when he learned that the B&B team was in trouble.

Since then, there has been no official news, but Cavendish and out-of-contract DSM sprinter Cees Bol were spotted at Astana's training camp in Altea, Spain.

Images on social media show Cavendish riding a team-supplied Willières bike and spotted at a hotel in Astana.

Cavendish was not present for the Astana team presentation and team photo at the beginning of the year.

However, it is likely that Astana will announce the signing of Cavendish in the next few days and that Cavendish will rejoin the team in the New Year training camp.

In recent days, Cavendish returned to England to give evidence in court with his wife Peta in the trial of several men accused of a violent robbery at their Essex home in November 2021. The trial is scheduled to conclude next week.