Wiggins on Mark Cavendish: "Why wouldn’t you take the defending green jersey back to the Tour de France?"

The Tour de France begins on Friday, and each team is busy finishing their preparation for the race. Several teams have announced their lineups for the tour, and some remain. Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team have not yet done so, however it is certain that Mark Cavendish will miss the selection due to the lack of results and the comeback of Fabio Jakobsen.

Bradley Wiggins though, former teammate of Cavendish, commented on the Manxman's likely absence from the Tour. “Patrick knows what he’s doing but from a personal point of view, it would be a real shame if Cav’s not there. Any other team would be crazy not to take him, he’s just won a stage of the Giro," Wiggins argumented on the Cycling Show.

"Aside from the personal relationship with him, I find it hard to see why you wouldn’t take Mark, from a performance point of view, for the sponsors, for the impact he has on other riders around him on the team and the fact that he won four stages last year and the green jersey. Why wouldn’t you take the defending green jersey back to the Tour de France? I can’t see anybody else on that team who would merit going ahead of him, personally," the former Tour de France winner said.

With training camps, racing preparation and months of anticipation, Fabio Jakobsen is expected to headline the Belgian team at the Tour with goals of obtaining stage wins and the green jersey. Michael Morkov, Florian Sénéchal and Yves Lampaert - his traditional leadout - are expected to be racing alongside the Dutchman.