Mark Cavendish on Milano-Sanremo absence: "No-one from the team talked to me about it"

Mark Cavendish will not take to the start of Milano-Sanremo, the race he won in 2009, as the team will be focusing their lineup on different riders. Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl were set to head to the Italian classic with the goal of making a hard race for Julian Alaphilippe, but the World champion is ill and has been replaced with Fabio Jakobsen.

“You’ll have to ask the team. No-one from the team talked to me about it, so I don’t know, I don’t know. Obviously, I have won it. I’d like to do it, but nobody talked to me so..." Cavendish said after his win in Milano - Torino. After lacking the form at Tirreno-Adriatico it became clear he was not an option for the race, however Fabio Jakobsen will be given a chance as Alaphilippe was sidelined. The Belgian teams is taking a very strong team with several options, Jakobsen and Ballerini being the main cards to play.

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With Cavendish out of the picture for the race, he had focused on what he achieved yesterday in what was his third win of the season: “I’m really happy; back with Michael Mørkøv again… It’s dialed, that team. For a one-day race you have to be dialed, there’s only one opportunity. They send most of the sprint team with Fabio all year. So there’s a solid base of a sprint team for me here, and you’ve seen it’s incredible, I’m super happy. It’s the first time I raced Milano-Torino and I’m happy.”

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