Cavendish is still recovering from a lung infection which forced him out of the Tour of Missouri earlier this month, and now he faces a race against time to make the World Championships in Mendrisio, Switzerland.
 

The Isle of Man sprinter has claimed 10 Tour de France stage wins in the last two years and is one of the best finishing sprinters on the road.
 

Britain's coach Rod Ellingworth was due to name his final line-up last Friday, but has now postponed the final selection until Thursday.
 

Instead of finalising a nine-man team for the road race, Ellingworth has named 10 riders and will decide on the final nine depending on Cavendish's availability on Thursday.
 

Cavendish is included with Olympic gold-medallist Geraint Thomas, while David Millar, winner of Saturday's time-trial in the Tour of Spain, is expected to lead the team.
 

Three-time Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins, who came fourth overall in the Tour de France, will not take part in the road race and will concentrate on Thursday's time-trial.
 

Olympic champion Nicole Cooke will hope to defend her world title in the women's road race on Saturday and she leads a seven-rider team including Olympic time-trial silver-medallist Emma Pooley and rising star Lizzie Armitstead.
 

Pooley is a contender for a podium place in the women's time-trial on Wednesday where she will be joined by Wendy Houvenaghel, who won an Olympic silver medal on the track in Beijing last year.