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London - Mark Cavendish will join Chris Froome on the start line of the Tour de Yorkshire after being named in Team Dimension Data's six-man squad for the four-day race on Friday.
While Froome will focus on the general classification in Team Sky's new guise of Team Ineos, Cavendish will hope to battle the likes of Katusha-Alpecin's Marcel Kittel in the anticipated sprint finishes on the opening three stages of the race which starts next Thursday.
Cavendish, who has 30 Tour de France stage wins to his name, is without a victory in any race since last February after a long battle with the Epstein-Barr virus, but took encouragement from a third-place finish on stage three of the Tour of Turkey last week.
With his focus firmly on proving his fitness for the Tour de France in July, where Cavendish is hoping to edge closer to Eddy Merckx's all-time record of 34 stage wins, he will be racing on some familiar roads.
"I really enjoyed the tough but beautiful parcours (route) last year as I rode the race for the first time, and I look forward to seeing what's in store for us in the 2019 edition," said the British rider.
Cavendish, 33, suffered through last year's Tour de Yorkshire, unable to contest the sprints and withdrawing on the brutal climbs of the fourth stage from Halifax to Leeds, unaware at that time he was suffering from Epstein-Barr.
Organisers have also announced that world time trial champion Annemiek van Vleuten and British track star Elinor Barker will compete in the women's race on Friday and Saturday.
