Mark Cavendish has missed out on a place in this year’s Tour de France.

It’s the second year in a row that the Manxman has missed the biggest grand tour in professional cycling, which was rescheduled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 35-year-old former world champion and green jersey winner moved to Bahrain-McLaren in the off-season after four seasons at Team Dimension Data.

Unfortunately the 2020 cycling season has, like most sports around the world, been severely disrupted by the spread of Covid-19 and only in recent weeks has Cav been back in competitive action.

He successfully completed the Vuelta a Burgos, the Tour of Poland and the VOO-Tour de Wallonie, picking up three top-20 stage finishes in the process.

But team principal Rod Ellingworth has overlooked the Manxman for his eight-man squad for Le Tour, instead selecting Mikel Landa, Wout Poels, Pello Bilbao, Damiano Caruso, Rafael Valls, Marco Haller, Matej Mohoric and Sonny Colbrelli.

This year’s Tour de France takes place between August 29 and September 20.

More in Tuesday’s Isle of Man Examiner.