Thursday 5 December 2019 09:35, UK
Mark Cavendish's Epstein-Barr diagnosis is unlikely to keep him out of this year's Tour de France, according to his team boss Doug Ryder.
Cavendish is the second Dimension Data rider this year to suffer from the virus, which is a common cause of glandular fever.
Jaco Venter was diagnosed in January and is back racing, and Cavendish said on Wednesday he hopes to follow his team-mate's lead as he continues to target Eddy Merckx's record of 34 Tour stage wins.
Cavendish is four behind the Belgian, and Dimension Data boss Doug Ryder is hopeful his star sprinter can recover in time for the July 1 Grand Depart in Dusseldorf.
"Worst-case scenario is that he does the Tour de Suisse (June 10-18) or the Criterium du Dauphine (June 4-11) and then the Tour. That's our worst case scenario now," Ryder told Cyclingnews.
"Of course the real worst case is that he doesn't ride the Tour. That would be horrific for all of us and for him, of course. We hope he's just not that unlucky.
"He's looking and feeling a lot better. We just have to monitor things and check his blood every week.
"We are hoping that it doesn't affect Mark's Tour but of course racing is racing. You never know how long it might take but we believe we've picked it up early like we did with Ventor.
"He was off for three or four weeks, and he's not at 100 per cent condition yet but he's getting there. Maybe Mark will also have that timescale."
Cavendish tweeted on Wednesday: "Sad to be out of action, but hopefully I can manage this effectively and be back in a few weeks like my team-mate Jaco Venter was."
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