Mark Cavendish will be part of the HTC-Highroad team for the Tour of Britain, which starts this Sunday in Scotland, the race organiser has confirmed. The Manx sprinter was riding the ongoing Vuelta a España, but withdrew midway through stage four when he was unable to keep up with the peloton on the climbs.
“As a team we have worked hard over the past fortnight to ensure that Mark Cavendish rides The Tour of Britain,” said Race Director Mick Bennett.
As he was registered to ride the Vuelta, Cavendish would not have been allowed under International Cycling Union (UCI) rules to ride another race until it was over. Since the two races overlap by one day – with the Vuelta ending in Madrid on Sunday – he, and the Tour of Britain organisers, had to request that the Vuelta organisation grant permission for him to ride.
“We are very pleased that Mark has been given permission by the organisers of the Vuelta a Espana to start The Tour of Britain, and will be able to race in front of home crowds for potentially the final time before the 2012 London Olympics,” Bennett said.
“Mark’s addition to the start list will ensure that the sprints are hotly contested. I am sure the spectacle of Mark, Thor Hushovd, Ben Swift and others going head-to-head at stage finishes will draw huge crowds to the roadside once more.”
Cavendish last rode the Tour of Britain in 2007, when he won the opening 2.6km prologue, in Crystal Palace, London, and the first road stage between Reading and Southampton. Since then he has, of course, become the “fastest man on two wheels”, with a list of wins that includes Milano-Sanremo and twenty stages of the Tour de France.
With a shortage of top level races in Britain Cavendish rarely gets to race on his home roads, although he recently won the London Surrey Cycle Classic, which was based on next year’s Olympic course.
Cavendish himself has also expressed his delight at being able to ride his home tour.
“So happy to announce on this lovely Monday morning that I will be racing in this years #TourOfBritain with my @HTCHighroad team. #excited,” he wrote on his Twitter feed this morning.
As well as the chance to ride in front of his home crowd, the Tour of Britain will provide Cavendish with some much needed race mileage ahead of the World Championships. The race, in Copenhagen, Denmark, is predicted to finish in a sprint, where he would ordinarily be one of the favourites; having dropped out of the Vuelta with poor form however, without the Tour of Britain he could find himself struggling.
The HTC-Highroad team will also include Danish pair Alex Rasmussen and Lars Bak, Irish champion Matt Brammeier and Cavendish’s usual roommate Bernhard Eisel. The race could also be the last chance to see the Manx Missiles partnership with regular leadout man Mark Renshaw, who has signed for Rabobank for 2012, where he will be sprinting for himself.
As well as HTC-Highroad, British domestic teams Endura Racing, Motorpoint, Sigma Sport-Specialized, and Team Raleigh have also announced their line-ups for the race.
HTC-Highroad for the Tour of Britain
Lars Bak, Matt Brammeier, Mark Cavendish, Bernhard Eisel, Alex Rasmussen and Mark Renshaw
Endura Racing for the Tour of Britain
Jack Bauer, Iker Camano, Rene Mandri, Paul Voss, Alex Wetherall and Ian Wilkinson
Motorpoint Pro Cycling for the Tour of Britain
Ian Bibby, Marcin Bialoblocki, Will Bjergfelt, Tobyn Horton, Johnny McEvoy and Peter Williams
Sigma Sport-Specialized for the Tour of Britain
Russell Hampton, Steve Lampier, Tom Last, Tom Murray, Simon Richardson and Wouter Sybrandy
Team Raleigh for the Tour of Britain
Dan Fleeman, Richard Handley, Liam Holohan, Jeroen Janssen, Gael Le Bellec and Jamie Sparling