Mark Cavendish will be the leader of the British team at the World Championships in Richmond, Virginia. The Etixx-Quick Step rider hopes that the elite men's road race will come from a bunch sprint. But he has revealed that because of a crash during the Tour of Britain, he is a possible non-starter.

"I am bit nervous actually about my shoulder. It’s not like it was at the Tour de France last year but they think it’s worse than initially feared so I am going to get it checked out on Friday and if it’s not that much better," Cavendish told Cyclingnews. "I am still on the home trainer at the moment. I can’t really get on the road with it, I can’t put any weight on it."

"It’s a problem with the AC joint, nothing is broken but with the joint there has been a displacement. At the Tour I had a grade four separation, which meant that all three of the ligaments had ruptured and it needed surgery. This doesn’t need surgery but it’s a similar injury to what I had last year and what Tom Boonen had in Paris-Nice. When the Worlds were in Valkenburg, were in Florence, I did a job for the team but all I can really do is ride early on. I am not going to be there late on to play a role on a course I know I can’t win on, that’s will always be my role,” Cavendish added.