This time the Scheldeprijs comes too early for the recovering Cavendish — © Getty Images
Mark Cavendish will not be there on Wednesday in ‘his’ Scheldeprijs. We wrote earlier that it was highly unlikely, but on Tuesday his forfeit will be official by his employer Astana-Qazaqstan.
The old Brit is struggling with the aftereffects of a new outbreak of the Epstein-Barr virus with which he has been struggling since his time at Dimension Data. On March 13, he disappeared silently from Milan-Turin after a Tirreno-Adriatico in which things were not going well. He resumed training on the Isle of Man, but because he is not ready to play a significant role, it was decided that it was better that he skip the Scheldeprijs. Schoten was his first ever victory at the highest level.
That’s already 17(!) years ago. Cavendish won the Scheldeprijs three years in a row, came second twice and third twice, including last year. He was at the start eight times, and the 39-year-old former world champion finished on the podium seven times in May. His return is planned for the Tour of Hungary. That starts on May 8. By that time he will be fit again, instead of not being in good condition, he will go to Terneuzen only to abandon the race after a few hours. (hc)
