Manx cyclist Mark Cavendish confirmed for Giro d'Italia almost ruling him out of Tour de France

Manx cyclist Mark Cavendish has been selected for the Giro d'Italia - making him unlikely to compete in the summer's Tour de France.

Cavendish, from Douglas, won four stages at the Tour in 2021, to move level with Eddy Merckx’s all-time record of 34 stage victories.

He will lead the QuickStep-Alpha Vinyl squad in Italy, which Dutch sprinter Fabio Jakobsen is expected to compete for the team at the Tour instead.

It will be the first time Cavendish has raced the Italian Grand Tour since 2013.

He has won 15 stages in the five editions of the Giro d'Italia he has raced, winning the points classification in 2013 and wearing the leader’s pink jersey for a total of four days.

Cavendish will have a strong support squad with him in Italy, including his expert lead-out man Michael Morkov and fellow Brit James Knox.

The team’s sports director Davide Bramati said: "We go to the Giro d’Italia with a lot of motivation. We have a good team at the start, with Mark as our man for the flat.

"He has won a lot of stages at the Giro, and he can rely on many strong riders to support and guide him in the hectic bunch sprints.

"For the other stages, we'll just take it one day at a time, fight for every opportunity and see what we can do."