Mark Cavendish expected to skip Tour de France

After being selected for the Giro d’Italia by Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl, Britain’s Mark Cavendish is unlikely to return to the Tour de France.

Cavendish, 36, equaled Eddy Merckx’s Tour de France record of 34 stage victories by winning four stages last year.

Fabio Jakobsen, a Dutch sprinter, is slated to compete for the team at the Tour de France instead.

Davide Bramati said, “Mark is our man for the flat [in Italy].”

“He’s won a number of stages at the Giro, and he can count on a lot of great riders to help and lead him through the frantic bunch sprints,” the sports director noted.

Cavendish came within a whisker of breaking Merckx’s record during the penultimate stage of last year’s Tour when he was thwarted by Belgian Wout van Aert of  Jumbo-Visma.

After several years of being unable to win due to injuries and illness, his performance in the race was a remarkable comeback.

Cavendish has won 15 Giro stages during his famous sprinting career, including becoming the first British rider to win the Milano-Torino one-day race.

He has three wins this season, compared to six for Jakobsen.

With 42 victories, Mario Cipollini holds the record for most stages won during Italy’s three-week Grand Tour.

Meanwhile, Simon Yates of the United Kingdom has been chosen to lead Team BikeExchange-Jayco for the three-week race.

In 2018, the 29-year-old was the race leader for 13 days and finished third in the Giro behind Egan Bernal, who is unlikely to race this season after suffering significant injuries in a training incident in January.

On Friday, May 6th, the race will begin in Hungary for three stages before returning to Italy.