Mark Cavendish to miss Arctic Race of Norway

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Dimension Data will head to the Arctic Race of Norway without sprinter Mark Cavendish, despite the Manxman being announced as a headliner by the race organisation last week.

Cavendish missed the European Championships after being advised by his medical team to not race because of unspecified "unfortunate injuries".

Dimension Data confirmed that Cavendish will skip Norway but gave no further details. "An update on Mark's return to racing will be given in due course," the team announced.

Cavendish finished 12th in the Prudential RideLondon after being eliminated from the Tour de France on stage 11, missing the time cut on a brutal mountain stage along with teammate Mark Renshaw and Katusha-Alpecin's Marcel Kittel.

Bernard Eisel will replace Cavendish, continuing his return from a subdural hematoma, having raced the Tour de Pologne last week. He is joined by Mekseb Debesay, Jacques Janse van Rensburg and two trainees Kent Main and Connor Swift.

Main, 22, comes from the Dimension Data continental squad, while Swift, the British national champion, joins the squad from Madison Genesis.

"I'm really looking forward to heading back to Norway, I was included last-minute for this race but I'm super-happy," Eisel said. "I haven't raced that much this year so I'm very excited to be going back there, and discover more of Norway, especially here in the north near the Russian border."

Eisel had some unexpected success in the race last year, winning the mountains classification and taking home 500kg of Arctic salmon as a prize, but he does not plan to try to repeat that feat. "I'm just happy to be back on the bike and back in Norway.

"It's a great race, a little more adventurous. I've done all the races in Europe and going that far north is always really exciting for me. Let's hope the weather is as nice as last year but it's also nice there when it rains."

Dimension Data for Arctic Race of Norway: Bernie Eisel, Connor Swift, Jacques Janse van Rensburg, Kent Main, Mekseb Debesay

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