Mark Cavendish is training in Greece with coach Vassilis Anastopoulos in preparation for his return to racing at the Presidential Tour of Churkiye, which begins Sunday in Antalya.

The Manxman has not raced since getting sick in Milano-Torino on March 13, but he seems eager to get his last season back on track in Turkey and at the Tour de Hongri in early May. At the Tour de Turkey, Cavendish was named in the Astana Kazakstan lineup, and Cavendish revealed in a video that he will compete in the Tour de Hongri instead of the Giro d'Italia.

A stage win and stage win record at the Tour de France remains Cavendish's ultimate goal for the season. However, Astana Kazakstan also needs to earn ranking points to defend its place among the 18 WorldTour teams for the 2026-2028 season.

Cavendish will turn 39 on May 21, but she seems motivated to suffer in training and racing. According to a series of Instagram posts, he has been mixing rides in the hills near Greece with motor pace work on the back of a scooter driven by Anastopoulos. Cavendish spent time in Greece as well until 2021, when he won four Tour de France races.

Anastopoulos joined Astana Kazakstan as Cavendish strengthened the sprint team within the Kazakhstan team. Mark Renshaw took on a more important role as a directeur sportif, and Michael Morkov moved from Sudar-Quick Step as a reliable lead-out man.

Cavendish announced his retirement at the 2023 Giro d'Italia, but changed his mind after crashing at the Tour de France the day after finishing second in the sprint for Bordeaux. He raced for 17 seasons, winning 163 races, including Milan-San Remo, and winning the world road race title in Copenhagen in 2011, but was eager to continue racing for a final season and a final Tour de France.

"Sprinting is not an addiction for me. Racing is, and so is riding a bike, but sprinting definitely isn't.

"I do okay in sprints, but before that I was pretty scared. It's never an addiction. It's my job and my nature. I'm good at sprinting and it's helped me a lot in bike racing. I can't complain."

"I like sprinting because it's not just about how many watts you can turn the pedals.

"Sprints hang on to the last of the remaining tactics. You have to understand your opponent, the conditions, and the finish, and play it out like a game of chess. It's about putting all of that together and figuring out the best way to win. You can change how you win, and I like that." [No fear, no joy, no emotion. It's very logical."

Cavendish got off to a good start in the 2024 season with a stage win in his first Tour Colombia, but then he suffered from health problems.

The British sprinter took part in the eight-day Tour of Türkiye in early October 2023 to return to racing after a crash and broken collarbone in the Tour de France.

Astana Kazakstan is one of four WorldTour teams competing in the 2.HC, 1,253-km race that starts in Antalya on Sunday, April 21 and finishes a week later in Istanbul.

The three teams are Bora Hansgrohe, Alpecin Deceuninck, and DSM-Filmenig Post NL. Other sprinters include Sam Welsford and Danny van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe), Fabio Jacobsen (DSM-Firmenich Post NL), and Aaron Gate (Burgos-BH).