Mark Cavendish has been forced to withdraw from Sunday’s UEC European Championships men’s road race in Scotland.

The Manx Missile had been set to line up for Great Britain alongside Onchan resident Ben Swift in the elite race around the streets of Glasgow.

However, following medical advice from his doctor, Cavendish has dropped out of the event and will be replaced by fellow Manxman Mark Christian.

Christian himself had originally been due to ride on Sunday but was replaced by Chris Lawless last week, only for Cav’s withdrawal to force another reshuffle.

Speaking to British Cycling, Cavendish commented: ’It’s incredibly disappointing to have to withdraw from the Great Britain cycling team competing in Glasgow. Being selected to compete for my country is a huge honour and I had been looking forward to racing with the team.

’However, given what’s been a challenging few months in terms of aiming to sufficiently recover from some unfortunate injuries in time to compete, I’ve been advised that at this stage the best thing is for me to withdraw from Sunday’s race.’

I wish the entire team all the very best for the race and I’ll be cheering on with the rest of the country.’

Team GB performance director Stephen Park also said: ’Obviously this is disappointing for Mark, the team and his fans but it’s the right decision. Mark’s pride and passion for representing his country is always apparent and we know how much he was looking forward to the race.

’I’d like to thank Mark Christian for stepping in to the team at short notice, and I’m looking forward to seeing our strong squad take on the men’s road race this Sunday.’