The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Cavendish left ‘devastated’ by surprise snub
Tour de France: Cyclist is left out of team
Mark Cavendish has been left devastated after missing out on selection for the Tour de France.
The 30-time Tour stage winner will not be on the startline for the first time since his debut in 2007 after being left out of Team Dimension Data’s eight-strong team.
It is understood Dimension Data head of performance Rolf Aldag wanted to select Cavendish for the Tour, but was overruled by team principal Doug Ryder, who instead made the final call on a squad which includes Britain’s Steve Cummings, 38, and Dane Lars Bak, 39.
The decision has come as a shock for the 34-year-old Cavendish, who has been plagued by the Epstein-Barr virus in recent years but felt he was in the sort of form which saw him win four stages in 2016.
Cavendish took to Twitter to express his disappointment, saying: “Well what can I say? I’m absolutely heartbroken by the decision that means I won’t be @letour this year.”
Cavendish raced in the British national road race on Sunday, finishing 22nd, after completing an altitude camp in Austria last week – part of his preparation for the Tour.
Though Cavendish has been short of results on the road this season – his best so far a third place on stage three at the Tour of Turkey in April –the Manxman had been focusing on training designed to bring him to peak form for the Tour.
The team’s squad announcement did not mention Cavendish, but a later statement said: “Selection for our Tour squad was a highly-competitive process and one in which a panel weighed up the options provided to us not only by Mark but indeed all of our riders.”