Mark Cavendish is likely to move to Team Sky following confirmation that his current team, HTC-Highroad, will fold by the end of the year.
The 26-year-old has been told by HTC team head, Bob Stapleton, that he, and members of his personal team, are free to seek new deals.
"We had an agreement in place in principle with a new [sponsor] which would have given us enough funds to operate the team at the same level of the last four years," said Stapleton. "This deal abruptly collapsed on Sunday night."
Australian team GreenEdge have also emerged as a frontrunner for the Manxman's signature.
Cavendish enjoyed a successful 2011 Tour de France, winning five stages to bring his total stage wins since 2008 to 20.
