Tour de France 2021: Veteran cyclist Mark Cavendish set to feature in tournament after three year absence-Sports News , Firstpost

File image of Mark Cavendish. AFP

Paris: Mark Cavendish will return to the Tour de France for the first time since 2018 after he was named in Deceuninck-QuickStep’s squad for the race which begins on Saturday.

Cavendish, whose 30 Tour stage wins are second only to Eddy Merckx, was included after Irish rider Sam Bennett was ruled out through injury, meaning he will be unable to defend the green jersey that he won in last year’s race.

After a patchy few years, 36-year-old Cavendish has enjoyed a resurgence this year, winning four stages of the Tour of Turkey in April and the final stage of the Belgium Tour this month.

Cavendish said: “I am delighted to be going back to the Tour de France with Deceuninck-QuickStep.

“Obviously, the circumstances with Sam could be better – he had a special Tour last year and I am sad for him not being able to defend his green jersey. But at the same time, I am excited to be going back to a race that I have such an affinity with and where I have so much history.

“It is the biggest bike race in the world, and I am going to do all I can to grab this opportunity with both hands.”

Bennett, 30, was a surprise winner of the points classification last year, dethroning Peter Sagan who has dominated the competition since 2012.

But he said a “very minor incident” in training had affected his knee.

“Needless to say, I’m very disappointed to not be able to defend my green jersey at this year’s Tour de France,” Bennett said.

“While the injury I sustained is very short-term, it impacted my training for the biggest bike race in the world all too much and left me without enough time to be race fit.”