Tour de France 2019 Team Preview: Dimension Data

Cavendish record attempt put on hold

Amgen Tour of California 2019 - 14th Edition - 3rd stage Stockton - Morgan Hill 207 km - 15/05/2019 - Mark Cavendish (GBR - Team Dimension Data)

British cyclist Mark Cavendish will miss the Tour de France for the first time since 2007 after being left out of this year’s eight-man Dimension Date team on Tuesday. The 34-year-old sprinter, who has won 30 stages on the Tour de France, has struggled for form since returning to action this year after a second bout of the debilitating Epstein Barr virus. He has only made the podium once in 2019 — third place in the third stage of the Tour of Turkey in April — and could only finish 22nd in the British National Championships road race on Sunday. Cavendish is just four stage wins shy of Eddy Merckx’s record of 34.

The South African team include two previous stage winners in the shape of the Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen (three wins) and 38-year-old Briton Steve Cummings (two wins). Italian sprinter Giacomo Nizzolo makes his Tour debut at the age of 30.

Dimension Data team for Tour de France

Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR)
Lars Bak (DEN)
Steve Cummings (GBR)
Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (RSA)
Ben King (USA)
Roman Kreuziger (CZE)
Giacomo Nizzolo (ITA)
Michael Valgren (DEN)
Vuelta Espana 2018 – 9th stage – Benjamin King (USA – Dimension Data)

Photo: Bettini