Cavendish to ride Vattenfall Cyclassics

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Mark Cavendish will ride the Vattenfall Cyclassics for the first time on Sunday. Cavendish was set to ride the three-day Tour du Poitou Charentes on Tuesday but will ride the sprinters' race first, after his Omega Pharma-QuickStep team decided to add the race to his calendar at the last minute.

"Mark is keen to ride his bike," said team directeur sportif Brian Holm. "After Tour de l'Ain he had a good block of training. That's why we decided at the last moment to add this race to his calendar.”

Cavendish is likely to play the support role for his teammate Gianni Meersman - who has taken three victories in the last month - as he did at the Tour de l’Ain last week. However, the addition of him to the team, will give them more options."The presence of Mark will be important also for the team strategy during the race,” said Holm.

“On this team we have weapons for any kind of solution, including those who can be present in the attacks in final kilometres if the race fires up on the climbs. We will do our best to continue the winning mood that was present last week."

Cavendish is still suffering the effects of his Tour de France crash and only made his return to racing at the Tour de l’Ain. He was on Omega Pharma-QuickStep’s long list for the Vuelta a España, but the team decided to use a series of shorter races to bring him back to form. Along with Vattenfall the Tour du Poitou Charentes, Cavendish will ride the Tour of Britain, which begins on September 7.