
Mark Cavendish will head to the Tour of Slovenia as a last warm-up before leading Dimension Data at the Tour de France in July. The Manxman has had a reduced race schedule in 2019 as he continued his long recovery from Epstein-Barr virus which had plagued him for almost two years.
The 34-year-old has opted for the five-day stage race in Slovenia over the more popular Tour de France warm-up races of the Criterium du Dauphine and Tour de Suisse, racing the Tour of Slovenia every year since 2016.
Despite his presence at the race, it is one of the few stage races in which Cavendish has yet to take a stage victory. His best result was second on Stage 4 of the 2017 edition, finishing behind Bora-Hansgrohe's Sam Bennett in a bunch sprint.
He will be flanked by fellow sprinter Giacomo Nizzolo and ever-present lead-out men Bernie Eisel and Mark Renshaw. Lars Yitting Bak, Jay Robert Thomson and Jaques Janse Van Rensburg complete the Dimension Data team.
Battling with Epstein-Barr virus, Cavendish has struggled to perform in the last two years taking only one victory - Stage 3 of the 2018 Dubai Tour - in that time.
However, recent blood tests showed he is now clear of the illness and at the recent Tour of California he told press that he was hoping to be back and contesting race wins soon.
The Manxman is currently training with Team Ineos pair Luke Rowe and Owain Doull in the French Alps.
Cavendish will race the Tour de France in July targeting Eddy Merckx's stage win record of 34 stages. The sprinter is just four adrift of Merckx although has not won a stage of the race since 2016.