Friday 20 February 2015 19:44, UK
Mark Cavendish has been warned his Etixx - Quick-Step future could be at risk if he fails to register regular wins in cycling's biggest races in 2015.
Cavendish is in the final year of the three-year contract he signed when he left Team Sky after only one season in 2012.
The 25-time Tour de France stage-winner has seen his status as the world's No 1 sprinter slip in the last two seasons, with Germany's Marcel Kittel having regularly beaten him in bunch finishes, but his form at the start of 2015 has been encouraging.
After a slow start, where he was beaten by Colombia's Fernando Gaviria in two stages of the Tour de San Luis, he has won five times, including the Clasica de Almeria last Sunday.
However, Etixx - Quick-Step boss Patrick Lefevere told cyclingnews.com: "Everyone likes Mark, he likes the team, but it's about money and it's about winning.
"He’s been winning a lot this year but things really start with Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-San Remo and Gent-Wevelgem. After that we’ll maybe start speaking, but we can’t hide the fact that the Tour de France is also really important.
"If Mark is beaten five times by Kittel then we'll have another discussion. He's a really popular rider, he's a star, but if you don't win then your star starts to fade.
"We're professionals, I'm a professional, he's a professional and we have to sit down as grown-ups and speak. But it's too early to speak about this."
Cavendish could soon find Gaviria becoming a team-mate, as Lefevere confirmed the 20-year-old would be undergoing tests for the team at the Bakala Academy next week.
A number of teams are interested in the young Colombian, who also finished second to Cavendish in the final stage of San Luis, but Lefevere is keen to get a deal done if his duties on the track are not an issue.
Lefevere added: “He’s coming to us after the weekend to do some tests. He’s in Paris to do the track World Championships and then from there he’ll come to Kortrijk. We’ll have a talk, do some tests and then he will return to Colombia.
“We’ll try to sign him if the tests are good but we’ll of course respect his plans for the Olympics.”
