[the_ad id="5357"]
[ad_1]
Max Richeze hadn’t planned for it to end like this, but he’s made his peace with the idea that maybe it’s a fitting way to say goodbye all the same.
The Argentinian takes his final bow as a professional rider this week as the leader of his national team at the Vuelta a San Juan, calling time on a career that saw him earn a reputation as one of the finest lead-out men in the peloton.
Twelve months ago, Richeze had already brushed with the end only for UAE Team Emirates to offer him a late extension to keep guiding Fernando Gaviria through bunch sprints.
The ability to read the shifting topography of the finishing straight is a rare gift, and Richeze showed in 2022 that he could still provide that service even as he approached his 40th birthday.
Mark Cavendish certainly seemed convinced, and when he looked set to move to B&B Hotels last Autumn with designs on that record-breaking 35th Tour de France stage win, he asked Richeze to come along as part of his lead-out train, together with Cees Bol.
Richeze even attended B&B Hotels’ pre-season planning meeting in October, only for Jérôme Pineau team to collapse due to a lack of funding in early December.
“We were in the loop a little bit, but we didn’t know everything,” Richeze told Cyclingnews in San Juan. “I’m sorry about it, because, in the end, a lot of families were left in the lurch, a lot of people were left without a job – not just the riders, but the staff too. I’m sorry for them.”
Even at that short notice, Cavendish was always likely to find a landing site, and Richeze’s understanding was that he remained part of his plans for 2023. That was still his impression as December ticked by, but when Richeze read reports of Cavendish and Bol’s imminent move to Astana Qazaqstan, the trail suddenly went cold.
His attempts to contact both Cavendish and the Manxman’s agent Martijn Berkhout proved fruitless. Richeze has been long enough in this gig to understand exactly what the silence meant, but it still rankled.
“I was going to be part of his package, along with Cees Bol. There were going to be three of us. But then, from one day to the next, Mark disappeared, and so did his agent, so I only found out in the press that they had signed for Astana,” Richeze said. “In December, he stopped answering his phone, and it was the same with his agent.
“Normally, I was part of his project, he had called me to be a part of it. If he had said to me at the last minute, ‘I’m sorry but there are only two places and I can’t take…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…
[ad_2]