Mark Cavendish admits his form was not good enough to be selected for this year's Tour de France The 35-year-old Cavendish has been racing sporadically in 2020 due to the COVID-19 epidemic and the mountainous Tour route in Bahrain ...McLaren has stronger support for GC leader Mikkel Landa...

Cavendish has not competed in the Tour for two consecutive years, but unlike in 2019, when his omission from the Dimension Data team contributed to a nasty split, the 30-time Tour stage winner took to Twitter to support Bahrain McLaren's decision.

"You saw the Bahrain McLaren team announced their team for the Tour de France.

"Some will be happy about it, some will be disappointed. And there will be journalists who do things for their own clicks. So I thought I'd share my own thoughts and feelings."

"Quite simply, I don't think I'm ready for the Tour de France this year. The Tour de France is the hardest course of my career and I am a racer who needs a lot of races to get into shape. This year I couldn't do that with COVID-19."

Cavendish moved to Bahrain McLaren on a one-year deal at the beginning of 2020 to team up with his longtime mentor and coach Rod Ellingworth Their relationship dates back to Cavendish's time at the British Cycling Academy, where he was a member of the team's team and a member of the team's coaching staff. The relationship dates back to 2011, when Cavendish won the rainbow jersey at the UCI Road World Championships in Copenhagen.

Since 2016, one of Cavendish's best years as a World Tour rider, the British sprinter has struggled with form and fitness. He was knocked out by a long-standing virus in 2017 and finally declared healthy last year.

This season he has sometimes doubled as sprinter and lead-out for his teammates, but with no wins under his belt and, more importantly, without his best form, teams have found it increasingly difficult to fit him into their Tour plans. Cavendish generously admitted that he was not ready and supported Landa in his quest to improve on his fourth place finish in 2017.

Cavendish also strongly hinted that he would continue for at least one more season, as his one-year contract expires at the end of this season, and in doing so put to rest speculation of retirement.

"Bahrain McLaren has a great GC contender in Mikel Landa and an incredibly strong team to support him. I know I will support the team wherever I am," Cavendish said.

"But I'm looking forward to it. We have some good targets and some good races lined up. I want to use this experience to make next year another big year."