He may not be riding in the Tour de France, but Mark Cavendish will be back on home soil this weekend when he heads a large entry for the annual Gran Fondo.

The 34-time Le Tour stage winner is gearing up for a tilt at the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and is looking forward to enjoying some closed roads riding in the island alongside almost 1,000 other participants of all ages and abilities.

Amongst a strong entry featuring several professional riders, two-time former British National Road Race Champion Ben Swift (Team Ineos) and ex-Tour de Yorkshire winner Chris Lawless (Team TotalEnergies) are also both set to take part.

At the front of the race for the main Gran Fondo honours in the Santander-sponsored event, a lot will come down to how seriously the three World Tour riders take the race which is largely aimed at amateur riders and is a qualification round of the prestigious UCI Gran Fondo World Series.

The event has attracted entries from across the UK and Europe as well as international riders from Australia and the USA. A significant number of participants are taking on the event for the first time and predicting the favourites becomes very difficult.

Amongst those to look out for with a proven track record though are reigning champion Tyler Hannay returning from France where he currently rides for the CC Etupes team, and last year’s third place finisher Corrin Leeming.

Amongst the other local riders to keep an eye on are previous top-10 finishers James Harrison, Elliot Baxter, Rob Sorby, Rob Moneta and Nick Colburn, as well as Cycling Club Isle of Man members Seb Tremlett and Mark Horsthuis.

Another rider with a previous podium finish is Phil Williams who was runner-up in 2019. The Merseysider has a huge engine and is almost certainly going to be in the mix come the finish.

Belgian riders Thomas Dhooge and Gilles Van Kerkvoorde compete at an elite level in their homeland and are expected to perform well, as is time trial specialist and founder of the NoPinz aero kit brand Blake Pond from the UK.

The cycling festival often attracts entries from sporting champions from other disciplines, and 2022 is no different with former Olympic gold medal winning rower Matthew Langridge making the trip across.

The main Gran Fondo event also features a separate race for women, with only 18 set to start this time - an indication of just how hard an event it is to take part in and complete, never mind compete for a place on the podium.

In the concurrently-run Medio and Piccolo Fondos over 40-mile and 20-mile distances respectively, the mix of gender as well as age and ability is much more diverse.

The sportive-style events have once again attracted a large entry of recreational cyclists looking forward to a fun yet challenging day out on closed roads featuring riders aged eight to 80.

The Gran, Medio and Piccolo Fondos take place on Sunday starting at 9.30am, while the weekend also features two additional events scheduled for Saturday.

The UCI World Series qualifying Individual Time Trial is set to take place at 10am, climbing from Ramsey to the Bungalow on the TT course.

The kids-focused Minisculo Fondo around a circuit at Mooragh Park features on Saturday evening from 5pm, with riders of all ages enjoying an hour’s worth of closed roads pedalling finished off with a free ice cream.

More information about the event - including details of all road closures scheduled for the weekend - can be found online at www.granfondoisleofman.com