Mark Cavendish will miss the Tour de France for the first time since 2006 after being overlooked by his Dimension Data team.
Britain’s first winner of the prestigious green jersey, in 2011, has 30 stage wins and had been looking to close the gap on Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 Tour stage victories.
But the 34-year-old was axed this morning by the team, whose sprint ambitions instead rest on the shoulders of Edvald Boasson Hagen and Giacomo Nizzolo.
Cavendish has been laid low by glandular fever for the past two years but was given the all clear in May only to be overlooked after struggling to regain his form.
The Briton made his Tour debut in the 2007 race, winning his first stage in 2008 and going on to dominate the sprints in subsequent seasons, his best haul of six stage victories dating back to 2009.
Fellow Brit Steve Cummings makes Dimension Data’s team for the race, which starts on Saturday, and said: “I was pleasantly surprised about the Tour selection, I wasn’t expecting that. I’m very grateful to the team.”
