Mark Cavendish will miss the 2020 Tour de France and Bahrain-McLaren general manager Rod Ellingworth believes "it's hard to say" whether he will feature in the race again.

The British rider was left out of the eight-man line-up for the belated Grand Tour, which starts in Nice on Saturday, with Bahrain-McLaren focusing their attentions on a yellow jersey push for Mikel Landa.

Cavendish, the points classification winner in 2011, said he did not feel ready for the race due to a lack of time on his bike amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The 35-year-old sits second on the list of all-time Tour stage wins, with his tally of 30 just four fewer than the record held by Belgian great Eddy Merckx.

Asked for the chances of Cavendish being on the start line for another Tour in the future, Ellingworth said: "It's hard to say. I think unfortunately for him, this situation we've found ourselves in, not racing, it went against him.

"If you've spent two years off the bike having lots of problems you need a consistent period of time to get yourself back to a decent level.

"I think as we all know with Mark, he's a bike racer; he's not particularly into the training, he loves racing. I think he was at a bit of a disadvantage in that sense, like many riders, just with the issues that he had. He just needed some consistent racing. So I don't know, I think time will tell."

When explaining why he would not take part in the Tour, Cavendish said he was looking to "build into a big year next year".

Ellingworth added: "I think he was quite rightfully upfront to say he wasn't ready for this year's Tour, and we'll keep working.

"That's what he's doing now, he's at home working and looking forward to the other races. Time will tell."