On Sunday the UCI World Tour peloton will head to the United Kingdom for the only British World Tour race of the season, the RideLondon Surrey Classic and amongst those lining up will be Mark Cavendish.
It will be the first race for Cavendish since stage 11 of the Tour de France when he finished outside the time limit and the Manxman will be joined on the Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka line-up by Mark Renshaw, Bernie Eisel, Scott Thwaites, Scott Davies, Johann van Zyl and Jaco Venter.
The course for the 187-kilometre race was made famous by being the route used at the 2012 London Olympic Games. Such was the success of the Road Race at the 2012 games that The RideLondon Surrey Classic was born the following year. The narrow, grippy and undulating roads in the Surrey Hills will make for a tough race but with the flat run to the finish line at “The Mall”, a group sprint is once again expected to the be the most likely outcome.
“I’m delighted to be able to get back racing so quickly and I’m really looking forward to racing the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic again,” said Cavendish. “I’ve not raced in the event since it was awarded UCI WorldTour status but I was there watching last year and it has grown into a fantastic race. In the last two years the race has come down to a sprint on The Mall and if it does so again this year I’m sure it will be a spectacular sprint finish.”
Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka Line-up:
Mark Cavendish
Mark Renshaw
Bernie Eisel
Scott Thwaites
Scott Davies
Johann van Zyl
Jaco Venter
