Mark Cavendish is set to ride in the Tour of Britain after not being selected for the Vuelta a Espana, his Omega Pharma-Quick Step team has confirmed.

The Ongar star returned to competitive action at the Tour de l’Ain last week after crashing out of the Tour de France on the opening stage in Harrogate on July 6 and sustaining a dislocated shoulder and ligament damage.

The 29-year-old required surgery on his injured shoulder, which also ruled him out of the Commonwealth Games, and he will continue his recovery in the Tour du Poitou Charentes from August 26 to 29 before he is due to line up in Liverpool on September 7.

"After the injury both myself and the team set a goal to get slowly back into a race environment at the Tour de l'Ain which I've now done." Cavendish told Omega Pharma's website.

"It was not an easy race for me because naturally my shoulder was still bothering me a little as it continues to get stronger each day. Now the next step is another shorter stage race at Poitou Charents.

"We will continue to monitor my condition week by week; as things stand it's impossible to know how I'll be feeling each week considering the severity of the injury and the accelerated recovery time.

"One thing is for sure, I would like to be at the start for the Tour of Britain for another chance to race in front of British fans again this year which holds lots of fond memories. My goal there will be to do the best I possibly can depending on the condition I'm in."

The last of the three annual Grand Tours begins in Jerez de la Frontera on Saturday and ends on September 14, the same day as the week-long Tour of Britain reaches its conclusion in London.

As long as Cavendish suffers no further setbacks, he could line up alongside defending Tour of Britain champion and former teammate Sir Bradley Wiggins after his omission from Team Sky’s Vuelta line-up was confirmed earlier today.

Team boss Sir Dave Brailsford had previously stated Wiggins would again ride the Tour of Britain this year, with Sky’s Spanish squad again being led by Chris Froome after his hopes of defending his Tour de France crown were also ended by injury last month.