Tour de France 2019: Dimension Data defend decision to omit Mark Cavendish from team press release

Team Dimension Data have defended their decision to omit any mention of Mark Cavendish from the press release confirming their eight-man line-up for the Tour de France. Cavendish was excluded from the South Africa-based team’s squad for the Tour, which begins on Saturday in Brussels, with team principal Doug Ryder taking the final decision which means the Manxman will not be on the start line for the first time since 2006.

He has struggled with Epstein-Barr virus over the past two years which he recently told The Independent had left him feeling exhausted at its worst. “You feel lazy,” Cavendish said. “You cannot do anything. You go training and you feel like you’ve just completed a grand tour.”

But he had resumed competing over the past few months and it is understood that he expected to be selected for the Tour, the race in which he has made his name as probably the greatest sprinter of all time. The omission throws into doubt whether Cavendish, 34, will get another opportunity to add to his haul of 30 career stage wins at the Tour, four short of Eddy Merckx’s record.

Some eyebrows were raised when Cavendish was not even mentioned in the team’s official press release, but a spokesman for Dimension Data told The Independent that their communications team followed standard protocol in the announcement, which never singles out omitted riders. While accepting Cavendish’s special relationship with the Tour de France, the spokesman added that he was one of a number of riders who were disappointed to miss out.

Cavendish was distraught by the news. Although he has not won a race since stage 3 of the Dubai Tour in early 2018, and has suffered a series of injuries and illnesses in recent seasons, positive noises had come out of his recent training camp and he looked sharp at the British National Championships in Norwich this weekend, although he ultimately came up short in a sprint finish.

Dimension Data’s team selection ultimately reflects an ambition to go for stage wins via breakaways on flat and hilly days by backing riders like the talented Dane Michael Valgren. This year’s route is peppered with category two climbs which organisers hope will attract attacking racing, and this would have played a part in the team’s planning. But the selection of Giacomo Nizzolo, an Italian sprinter who will make his debut at the Tour, shows that there is room for a high-speed specialist in the squad.

A statement by Dimension Data read: “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. As you’d expect among a selection panel, there were a number of different preferences of the final squad make up with our team principal, Douglas Ryder, making the final decision on it. This selection is one the team believes will be best suited to meet the goals set out for the race.”