Mark Cavendish (Astana-Qazaqstan) has opted to miss the first part of the Belgian Classics and has still to confirm when he will return to racing after a nasty cold disrupted his training.
The Manxman and his leadout man Michael Morkov failed to finish inside the time limit on the short but mountainous fifth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico and then Cavendish revealed he was starting to feel ill before starting Milano-Torino. He did not finish the Italian one-day race and came down with a cold.
He and Astana Qazaqstan have preferred not to rush his return to racing. A final stage victory at the Tour de France remains Cavendish's big goal of his final season of racing, with the start of the Grand Boucle in Florence on June 29 exactly 99 days away.
“It took a bit longer than I'd have liked to shift a cold, therefore affecting my training plan,” Cavendish told Cyclingnews.
“I'd like to be racing at full fitness, especially given the intense style of racing in Belgium, so we've adapted my race program to accommodate this.”
Cavendish did not ride Classic Brugge-De Panne on Thursday and so is unlikely to ride Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday. He was never expected to ride the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix. He could return to racing at Scheldeprijs on April 3, the sprinter’s Classic he has won three times, but is likely to opt for a more gradual return to training and racing after his illness.
“Mark had a respiratory infection during Tirreno-Adriatico and later, Milano-Torino and he had to stop racing,” Astana Qazaqstan team doctor Dag Van Elslande told Cyclingnews.
“The team gives him enough time to come back in perfect health, therefore he adjusted his training and racing program.”
Astana Qazaqstan have a double programme of races in the next few weeks that focus on the cobbled Classics and the Itzulia Basque Country stage race. Cavendish could opt to focus on his health and training and so return to racing later in April.
Astana Qazaqstan is scheduled to ride the Giro d'Abruzzo in Italy between April 9-12 and then the Presidential Cycling Tour of Türkiye between April 21-18. Cavendish has won 11 stages in the Turkish stage race during his career, and the rolling stages in the Turkish warm weather could be a way to rebuild his race form and land some results as Astana Qazaqstan chase vital UCI WorldTour ranking points.
Cavendish has already announced he will ride the Tour de Hongrie between May 8th and 12th and so will not ride the Giro d’Italia. His pre-Tour de France racing schedule has still to be confirmed but is likely to include a training camp and a series of stage races in late May and June.
