Mark Cavendish (Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka) is set to make his comeback today at the Tour de Slovénie after suffering from Epstein-Barr Virus for the past number of months.
In April, the Manxman’s team confirmed that he had infectious mononucleosis caused by the Epstein Barr Virus and it was a further setback after he had been diagnosed with an overuse ankle injury.
The Tour de Slovénie will offer a number of opportunities for sprinters and Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka has packed its roster with fast riders.
However, with a challenging mountain top finish on stage 3, the sprinters won’t be able to contest for the overall win. The 13.7 km uphill towards the finishing line in Rogla have an average gradient of 7.5 %, meaning only the best climbers in the race will have a chance to fight for glory.
Last year, Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka made the podium in two of the four stages in the race. This time, the team aims to repeat and hopefully improve that performance with a strong line-up. In addition to Cavendish, the team will also send Bernhard Eisel, Nathan Haas, Jacques Janse van Rensburg, Mark Renshaw, Kristian Sbaragli and the young South African sprinter Ryan Gibbons who impressed hugely in last month’s Giro d’Italia by making Top 10 no less than six times in his debut Grand Tour.
Mark Cavendish: “I’m really happy to be back racing and I’m glad that it’s here at Tour de Slovénie. This is a beautiful country and the people are so warm and welcoming. Coming back from illness, I’m as fit as I can be after four weeks of training. It has been really difficult because I have had to monitor what I have been doing very closely. It’s not like you wake up one morning and you’re feeling better, you have to take it step by step. Even this week in the race, I’ll be monitoring the workload. As a team we have come here to win but the team is definitely not built around me. We have young Ryan Gibbons and Kristian Sbaragli for the sprints and Jacques Janse van Rensburg for the mountain stage. Personally, I just want to make sure I’m part of the victory in whichever way I can be”.
Don’t overdo it!