Mark Cavendish will not be competing at the Tour de France after Bahrain McLaren omitted him from their squad which was announced on Friday.
Cavendish, who has won 30 stages on the Tour and considered one of the best sprinters in the event's history, joined the team last year along with Belgian rider Dylan Teuns, who has also missed the cut.
The British cyclist was left "heartbroken" when he wasn't selected by his former team Dimension Data for the Tour last year. Spaniard Mikel Landa, who finished fourth on the 2017 Tour, is set to lead the team at the race this year.
"I just don't feel I'm ready this year for the Tour de France," Cavendish, 35, said in a video posted on Twitter. "It's the hardest parcours I've seen in my entire career.
"I'm a rider that needs a lot of racing to get going and I just haven't had that this year with COVID-19. But Bahrain McLaren do have an incredibly strong GC contender in Mikel Landa and an incredibly strong team to support him."
The Tour, which was postponed this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, starts on Aug. 29 from Nice.
"This year's parcours is very well suited to Mikel and his form is strong," team principal Rod Ellingworth said in a statement.
"The group we have chosen to support him represents our riders who are most suited to the parcours and Tour-ready.
"The past few months have been challenging for all riders to be race fit and it's a credit to all of our guys that we had such a strong line-up to choose from."
Team Bahrain McLaren: Mikel Landa (Spain), Wout Poels (Netherlands), Pello Bilbao (Spain), Damiano Caruso (Italy), Rafael Valls (Spain), Marco Haller (Austria), Matej Mohoric (Slovenia), Sonny Colbrelli (Italy).