MARK CAVENDISH HAS been left out of Team Dimension Data’s line-up for the upcoming Tour de France.
Cavendish has won 30 Tour stages — the second most in history — and took the points classification title in 2011, but he has not been selected for the first time since 2006.
The 34-year-old sprinter has struggled for form since returning to action this year after a second bout of the debilitating Epstein Barr virus.
He has only made the podium once in 2019 — third place in the third stage of the Tour of Turkey in April — and could only finish 22nd in the British National Championships road race on Sunday.
Cavendish was not mentioned in a news release to announce the Dimension Data team on Tuesday.
Dimension Data instead went with Edvald Boasson Hagen, Stephen Cummins, Reinardt Janse van Rensburg, Michael Valgren, Roman Kreuziger, Giacomo Nizzolo, Ben King and Lars Bak.
Team principal Doug Ryder said: “[I am] really excited to announce this great group of riders who we feel will be the best suited to meet the team’s objectives we have set out for this year’s Tour de France.”
Cavendish signed a new contract with Dimension Data in October and outlined his desire to chase down Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 Tour stage wins.
“It’s no secret that it’s the one goal that I have left in cycling,” he said at the time.
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