Mark Cavendish sad to miss Ghent-Wevelgem with illness

Manx sprinter still aiming to put himself into Tour de France yellow jersey after Grand Depart in Yorkshire

Mark Cavendish wins Stage 6 of the 2014 Tirreno Adriatico

(Image credit: Graham Watson)

Mark Cavendish, according to team Omega Pharma-Quick Step, is sad to skip Ghent-Wevelgem today but remains focused on his Tour de France yellow jersey goal. To get to Yorkshire's Grand Départ, he will race the Three Days of De Panne, Scheldeprijs and likely skip the Giro d'Italia in favour of the Tour of California.

"It's not easy," development manager, Rolf Aldag told Cycling Weekly on Cavendish skipping the Ghent-Wevelgem one-day classic. He ranks it high on his list of one-day races along with the World Championships, Milan-San Remo and Scheldeprijs. Out of the four, the Belgian classic through Flanders is the only one he lacks on his palmarès.

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