Mark Cavendish (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) has been confirmed as one of a number of sprinters to participate in this year's Tour de Pollogne, which runs from July 30 to August 5. 1]

Cavendish has not raced since winning the British championships in June, and has not competed in the Tour de France since then, having been eliminated from the selection process by his current team, QuickStep-AlphaVinyl.

It was later revealed that Cavendish will not be with the Belgian team again in 2023.

This season, Cavendish won five races, including a stage win at the Giro d'Italia and a stage win at the UAE Tour.

In a press release from Quick Step Alfa Vinyl, sport director Gerd van Bont commented on the team's approach to the seven-day stage race in Poland, and Cavendish is Bert van Lerberghe, Cavendish will be supported by Bart Van Lerberghe, Zdenek Stival, and Josef Cerny, while Mauro Schmidt and Mauri Vansevenan could be in contention for the Overall. Meanwhile, Remi Cavagna will be looking to repeat last year's Tour de Pollogne time trial victory on stage 6.

"It's a beautiful Tour of Poland with opportunities for all types of riders. The first two stages are sprint stages and Marc is ready to fight for good results, with Bert, Zdenek and Jozef supporting him. Stage 3 is the same as last year, with a steep 1.5km climb to the finish. [Stages 4 and 5 may or may not be a group sprint. Expect Remi and Mauro to do well in the individual time trial on stage 6.

"Finally, the final stage will once again be for the sprinters.

Cavendish has competed in the Tour de Pollogne twice before, with his best result being sixth on a stage in 2019, and he will form part of a strong lineup of sprinters in this event.

The 79th edition, Poland's only WorldTour race, will feature Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates), Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ), Elia Viviani (Ineos Grenadier), Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious), and Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) will also compete.