Cavendish: 'Without this illness, I'd be going to the Tour looking to pass Merckx's stage record'

Mark Cavendish says he could be setting himself up for failure by going to the Tour de France with a lack of fitness

(Image credit: Daniel Gould)

Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) says he would be eyeing Eddy Merckx's record of 34 Tour de France stage wins this year if he hadn't contracted glandular fever and missed months of racing.

The Manxman only returned to racing in June at the Tour of Slovenia, having stopped racing after finishing Milan-San Remo in March and becoming ill.

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