Mark Cavendish’s team Astana Qazaqstan have announced some tweaks to the Manxman’s upcoming race schedule because of his recent illness.

The 38 year old has been suffering from a fever and a cold in recent weeks and his team have now altered his programme to aid his recovery and return to fitness.

His next planned races now will be the Presidential Cycling Tour of Türkiye, which begins on April 21, and the Tour de Hongrie in early May.

The team’s head of performance Vasilis Anastopoulos said: ‘After being sick for several weeks following the Tirreno-Adriatico and Milano-Torino, Mark Cavendish has resumed his training, continuing his preparation for his biggest goals of the season.

‘The team has adapted the racing plan, and as a result, Mark will miss the classic race Scheldeprijs and will instead spend some time at a training camp.’

Cav has been in the island continuing his recovery in the island recently, taking part in last weekend’s Nick Corkill Tour of the North.

The Manx Missile kickstarted his final year as a professional by triumphing at the end of the fourth stage of the Tour of Colombia in February with his sights firmly set on breaking Eddy Merckx’s record number of stage wins at the Tour de France in the summer.

The pair are currently tied on 34 wins apiece.