Bahrain McLaren's veteran sprinter Mark Cavendish said on Friday he will miss the Tour de France for a second straight season as he feels under-prepared for this year's race due to the coronavirus pandemic. Cavendish, 35, has won an impressive 30 stages in his Tour career but his last was in 2016. "Simply put I don't think I'm ready this year for the Tour de France," Cavendish said in a video on Twitter. "It's the hardest I've seen in my career and 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," he added. His team will be led by Spaniard Mikel Landa, who finished fourth on the 2017 Tour and has also won stages on the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana. "I am going to start the Tour in very good form," said Landa, 30, who was well-placed at the recent Criterium du Dauphine before fading to 18th overall. Landa will look to the support of the in-form Wout Poels in the mountains as well as Damiano Caruso and Pello Bilbao. The 2020 Tour gets underway in Nice on August 29. Bahrain team: Mikel Landa (ESP), Pello Bilbao (ESP), Damiano Caruso (ITA), Sonny Colbrelli (ITA), Marco Haller (AUT), Matej Mohoric (SLO), Wout Poels (NED), Rafael Valls (ESP) jm/lbo/dj/iwd