Cavendish starts in Tour of Qatar

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Mark  Cavendish has recovered from his illness and was scheduled to be at the start of the first stage of the Tour of Qatar on Sunday. He is making his debut for Team Sky in the race.

Cavendish fell ill on the flight from London to Doha, Qatar, on Friday evening and skipped training on Saturday, remaining under the supervision of the team's medical staff.

“We’re all delighted that Mark has been able to battle back from the bug he picked up coming out here and it will be a real boost to the rest of the guys to know that he’ll be starting today,” said sport directors Steven de Jongh.

“Our medical team have done a fantastic job in looking after him and Mark has followed their advice to the letter. Clearly, he’s not going to be at his best in the next few days but we’re hoping he’ll get stronger with every passing stage.

“We’ll continue to keep a very close eye on him but hopefully he’s over the worst of it now.”