Tour de France 2019: Mark Cavendish ‘absolutely heartbroken’ by omission from Dimension Data team

Cavendish had been hoping to increase his tally of 30 career stage wins at the Tour to close the gap to the overall record held by the Belgian great Eddy Merckx

Mark Cavendish says he is “absolutely heartbroken” at missing out on the Tour de France after his team, Dimension Data, revealed that he would not be taking part in the race for the first time in 13 years.

Cavendish had been hoping to increase his tally of 30 career stage wins at the Tour to close the gap on the overall record held by Belgian great Eddy Merckx, but his wavering form during his recovery from the Epstein-Barr virus led management of the South African team to take the decision to leave the 34-year-old out of their eight-man squad.

He tweeted: “Well what can I say? I’m absolutely heart-broken by the decision that means I won’t be @letour this year. As I have done for my entire career, I targeted a specific time to be at peak form. This has pretty much always resulted in me hitting my goals or coming damn close.

“Predominantly at the most beautiful, special race that is Le Tour de France, where 30 of these victories have defined my career. After a long, difficult fight back from trying to compete for the whole of last season with Epstein Barr Virus and after following a specific training program to peak in July, I feel I was in the perfect place.

“Nevertheless, I truly came to @teamdidata with the purpose of making a difference, by mobilising entire communities in Africa with bicycles through our incredible charity @Quebuka. Though I won’t be there, as always I’ll be supporting my teammates with all I have, wishing them safety and success in France and hoping we can get even more children on bicycles.

“Thank you all for your support.”

The Tour de France begins on Saturday 6 July in Brussels, and culminates in Paris on Sunday 28 July.