Multiple Tour de France stage winner and world champion Mark Cavendish has confirmed he will be competing in the Tour of Britain which hits the roads this weekend.
Multiple Tour de France stage winner Mark Cavendish will lead his HTC Highroad team at The Tour of Britain, which begins in Scotland on Sunday and will launch day four from Powis Castle on September 14.
Cavendish has been confirmed as a member of the HTC Highroad line-up, which also includes fellow members of his sprint team Bernhard Eisel and Mark Renshaw.
Meanwhile, Olympic gold medalist Geraint Thomas (right) will lead Team Sky alongside former Tour stage winner and King of the Mountains Ben Swift.
And they will be joined in The Tour of Britain by fellow Olympic Gold Medalist Ed Clancy, who leads the Rapha Condor Sharp team, which was also revealed today.
It looks set to be a stunning line-up and the last chance for many to compete in front of a home crowd before next year’s London Olympics.
“As a team we have worked hard over the past fortnight to ensure that Mark Cavendish rides The Tour of Britain,” said Race Director Mick Bennett.
“Mark’s addition to the start list will ensure that the sprints are hotly contested. I am sure the spectacle of Mark, Thor Hushovd, Ben Swift and others going head-to-head at stage finishes will draw huge crowds to the roadside once more.”
Cavendish, who has won 20 stages of the Tour de France, last rode The Tour of Britain in 2007, when he won the opening two stages of the race.
2011 will be Thomas' sixth Tour of Britain, with the Welsh rider having finished sixth and twelfth in the last two editions, while Swift secured his first professional win the last time he rode The Tour in 2009, winning the stage from Hatherleigh to Yeovil.