Mark Renshaw

In 2002 Renshaw's road career also began to take off when he was selected in the Brad McGee-organized NSWIS–FDJeux Development squad. Because of Renshaw's involvement in this squad he was soon riding in France with amateur squad SCO Dijon, which opened the door for him to join the senior FDJeux.com squad in 2004.[11]

Renshaw returned to the track in 2004, and in the World Championships competed in the Madison, Points Race and Team Pursuit. Renshaw crashed out in the Points race, and finished 4th in the Madison. The Australian Team Pursuit team went on to win Gold. After having raced all of the World Cup rounds in the Madison event, and in the process qualifying Australia for the Olympic spot, Renshaw was selected to ride the Points Race and the Madison at the Games. However, there was controversy when in the lead up to the event, Australian selectors chose experienced road rider, Stuart O'Grady to partner Graeme Brown over Renshaw in the madison event.[12] Renshaw still competed in the Points Race, where he placed 6th.

Renshaw stayed with FDJeux.com for two seasons, before he moved to Crédit Agricole, with the main aim of using his track bike handling experience to ride as lead-out for Thor Hushovd. Renshaw showed strong early season form, taking out the Geelong Bay Series Criterium for the second consecutive year. This led to him racing as Credit Agricole's main sprinter in the early events (with Hushovd's season yet to commence), where he picked up his first Pro-Tour victory in the first stage of his 'local' Pro-Tour event, the Tour Down Under. Renshaw went on to lead the general classification, until the penultimate Willunga Hill stage, where his lack of climbing ability meant he lost considerable time and the race lead to future teammate André Greipel.[13]

It was during his time with Credit Agricole that Renshaw made his Tour de France debut in 2008 Tour de France, after missing the 2007 race through illness. In the 2008 race, Renshaw received great praise for his role in Hushovd's win on Stage 2 of the race.[14]

Renshaw at the 2009 Sparkassen Giro Bochum

After the Credit Agricole team folded at the end of 2008, Renshaw was hired for Team Columbia–High Road. His primary responsibility in major races was as lead-out rider for sprinter Mark Cavendish.[15] After his first season with Columbia in 2009, Renshaw received praise from commentators and fellow riders alike for his part in Cavendish's hugely successful Tour and season in general, and was now commonly referred to as "the World's best lead-out man".[16][17] Renshaw's individual highlight of the 2009 season was possibly his second-placed finish on the final stage of the Tour de France, after a lead-out that also gave Cavendish the victory.

After a successful first season as leadout man for Cavendish in 2009, Renshaw was primed for a big season in 2010. His planned season schedule was to ride the Tour Down Under, the Tour de France and then the UCI Road World Championships – being held for the first time 'at home' for Renshaw, in Australia. These plans soon changed when he was diagnosed with Epstein–Barr virus in the pre-season which put his whole season behind. Renshaw missed his home tour, and did not return to Europe and serious training until February. This, coincidentally, roughly matched a delayed start to Cavendish's season (due to a tooth infection), and also meant that Renshaw was peaking later for his goal of the World Championships late in the year. Renshaw's season goals remained the World Championships, the Tour de France — as leadout man for Cavendish, as well as the Tour of California, where he would again be riding for Cavendish.

During the sprint finish of stage 11 in the Tour de France, while leading out Cavendish, Renshaw was disqualified and removed from the race for head-butting Garmin–Transitions' leadout man, Julian Dean and unfair blocking of Tyler Farrar by forcing him into the barriers.[18] After the race, Tour technical director Jean-Francois Pescheux explained, "Renshaw is out. We watched the film once and it was blatant. He head-butted Dean like in a keirin race...This is a bike race, not a gladiator's arena. Everybody could have ended up on their backs."[18] The punishment was unprecedented, the last time someone was removed from the race for a non-doping related offence was Tom Steels in 1997, for throwing his water bottle at a competitor during the sprint finish — an offence rated much more severe and unsportsman-like.[19] Four times Green Jersey winner, Sean Kelly disagreed: "When you consider the first movement from Dean, who was moving from right to left, the head butting was normal...".[20]

Renshaw had a successful 2011 season, winning stage 4 and then the general classification of the Tour of Qatar – beating notable sprinters Tom Boonen, Daniele Bennati and Heinrich Haussler.[4] Then he went on to reaffirm his reputation as the World's best lead-out man at the Tour de France – helping Mark Cavendish to five stage wins and the Green Jersey. However Renshaw's season ended in disappointment when he was controversially overlooked for the Australian World Championships team – in what was deemed a sprinter friendly circuit.[21][22] It was claimed by Renshaw and others in the media that this may have been because he had not signed for new Australian Pro-Team GreenEDGE.[23] Renshaw responded by placing second – after leading out teammate Cavendish – in the first two stages of the Tour of Britain, before going on to win Stage 5 himself.

Renshaw signed with the Dutch Rabobank squad before the start of the 2012 season, taking the chance to race for himself rather than continuing to lead-out Cavendish.[24] After hearing the news, Cavendish claimed that no one could do the same job Renshaw had done for him the previous three years, reiterating the point that he believed Renshaw to be the best in the world at leading out a sprinter.[6]

Renshaw won stage 4 of the Tour of Turkey. The mass sprint was an extremely close affair with Renshaw taking the win over fellow Australian Matthew Goss. The narrow margin was impossible to distinguish with the naked eye, even on the photo-finish.[25]

Renshaw withdrew from the Tour de France on Stage 12 in the mountains with approximately 72 kilometres (45 miles) to go, after succumbing to injuries from four separate falls earlier in the Tour.

In 2013, his team's name changed to Blanco Pro Cycling,[26] as Rabobank decided to withdraw their cycling sponsorship.[27] In February at the Clásica de Almería, Renshaw benefited from a good lead-out and bagged his first win of the season.[5] In April, Renshaw crashed heavily in the final stretch of the Tour of Turkey's second stage while he was the second man on the road, causing a mass pile-up. He fractured his collarbone, suffered a concussion and lost a tooth in the accident.[28]

On 10 July, it was announced that Renshaw would join Omega Pharma–Quick-Step for the 2014 season,[1] joining former HTC–Highroad team-mate Mark Cavendish at the squad.

In September, as his leader Cavendish did not feel on form after multiple crashes, Renshaw took sprinting duties at the Tour of Britain and prevailed in the mass gallop of Stage 2.[29]

Renshaw spent the 2015 season working as Cavendish's lead-out man, with his best personal result a third-place finish at the Clásica de Almería, which Cavendish won.[30] On 29 September, it was announced that he had joined Cavendish and their former teammate Bernhard Eisel in signing for MTN–Qhubeka – later renamed as Team Dimension Data – for the 2016 season.[31]