Mark Henshaw will join Mark Cavendish at his new team Dimension Data next season. The Australian rider who has had his first training camp with his teammates in South Africa last week, has spoken to Cyclingnews about this new role. He has no desire to become a sprinter again but wants a support role for Mark Cavendish.

“I had a goal-setting meeting and they asked me my individual goals and I said that I don’t have individual goals. I’ll only ride for the team and for the sprinters so the goal will be to win 15 or 20 races with Cav, to win a classic with Edvald and these sorts of goals,” he explained. “It’s more about being on the highest level throughout the year and looking after Cav and some of the other guys at the bigger races.

“Sure throughout the year there are always opportunities that will get thrown in your lap, normally it happens once or twice a year and it’s just whether or not you can pull it off. 99 per cent of the time I will be working for other riders.”

A key objective for the team is to support the Qhubeka Foundation. “It’s a great aspect about the team. They have this underlying charity to the team and what they work towards here in Africa is pretty special. We come from very privileged countries that are very different to Africa and South Africa. It’s a great part of the team and I’m pretty proud that I’ll be representing that next year. If my racing can help put kids on bikes and fund them for the future then that’s pretty special.”

Renshaw will start his season at home with the Santos Tour Down Under.