Renshaw to become Cavendish's lead out man at Columbia

By Jean-François Quénet

Mark Renshaw of Crédit Agricole has signed for Team Columbia for the next two seasons, he told Cyclingnews from his home in south of France before heading to Germany for the Deutschland Tour starting on Friday.

"When Crédit Agricole announced there was no new sponsor for next year, I was disappointed because I enjoyed riding for them," said Renshaw, who rode his first Tour de France alongside top sprinter Thor Hushovd who won stage 2 with his precious help. "But I also saw it as an opportunity to go out of a French team and join a bigger team."

The Australian fast-man turned pro with Française des Jeux in 2004 and spent the last three years with Crédit Agricole. "Mark Cavendish has seen that I dropped Thor in the best position during some sprints of the Tour de France," Renshaw explained. "I see it's no problem at this stage of my career to lead him out. Team Columbia was pretty much the first offer I had but I didn't hesitate. It's pretty interesting to join such a successful team with some of the world's best sprinters like Cavendish and André Greipel."

Renshaw is also excited to be part of an English-speaking team with a few Australians on board. Michael Rogers has re-signed with Columbia and Adam Hansen will still be there as well.