Mark Cavendish’s team are to offer him the chance to attempt to win a record 35th Tour de France stage in 2024.
The British rider, who is set to retire at the end of this season, abandoned this year’s race after breaking his collarbone on Saturday’s eighth stage.
Cavendish is equal with five-time Tour winner Eddy Merckx on 34 stage wins.
“I hope we will see him soon back in the race. In my opinion, his career cannot end here,” Astana Qazaqstan team manager Alexandre Vinokourov said.
He admitted it was “too early to say something about his race program”, but continued: “I crashed out in the Tour of 2011 but I came back to win Olympic gold one year later. It would be nice if Mark comes back to the Tour for a 15th time and wins that 35th stage.”
He earlier told French newspaper L’Equipe: “We are ready to offer him this possibility. But it is he who will decide.”
Cavendish, who announced in May that he would retire at the end of the season, fell in an innocuous looking crash about 60km from the finish of stage eight.
It came a day after falling short of a record-breaking 35th stage victory at the Tour.
The 38-year-old has competed in 14 Tours since making his debut in 2007, but has now failed to complete seven of those.
