Mark Cavendish returns to racing at Tour of Britain

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Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) will line-up at the Tour of Britain this weekend, less than two months after crashing out of the Tour de France. Cavendish was left with a fractured right scapula after tangling with Peter Sagan in the sprint finale of stage 4 of the Tour de France and had to leave the race. Sagan was disqualified as a result of the incident.

As he did following his early departure from the 2014 Tour de France, which saw him injure the same shoulder, Cavendish will use the weeklong race to get back into the rhythm of racing.

Dimension Data has won the last two editions of the Tour of Britain with Stephen Cummings claiming top honours last year and Edvald Boasson Hagen the year before that. Defending champion Cummings will not join his teammates on the start line in Edinburgh on Sunday as he continues his recovery from two broken vertebrae. The 2015 champion Boasson Hagen will be part of the six-man line-up.

With Cavendish comes his trusty lead-out riders Mark Renshaw and Bernhard Eisel, who recently won the mountains classification at the Arctic Race of Norway. Jay Thomson and sprinter Scott Thwaites will complete the Dimension Data line-up.

"It is great to be heading back to the OVO Energy Tour of Britain this week. As this event has grown in stature year on year, so has our team and the last two years in particular were fantastic for us," said Dimension Data sports director Roger Hammond.

"We always receive a huge amount of support in the UK for the team and for Qhubeka. With our partners, Dimension Data, Deloitte and Nederburg having such a large in presence over here too, the Tour of Britain is a very special and key event for our team. We will no doubt be looking to put on a good show once again, we always start a race with the goal to win, this year's Tour of Britain will be no different."

The Tour of Britain will set off from Edinburgh on Sunday, September 3 and finishes in Cardiff for the first time on September 10.

Dimension Data for the Tour of Britain: Mark Cavendish, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Mark Renshaw, Bernhard Eisel, Jay Thomson and Scott Thwaites.