Manx cycling superstar Mark Cavendish has pulled out of the Great Britain team for next week's World Road Championships in Italy and ended his season.

He started his highly successful 2008 campaign back in February and has racked up 18 stage wins.

The undoubted highlight is his historic performance in the biggest race of all when he became the first British rider to win four stages of the Tour de France.

He also claimed two victories at the Giro d'Italia, and three at both the Tour of Ireland and Tour of Missouri.

And then there are the classic wins in the Scheldeprijs Vlaanderen and the Ster Elektrotoer.....and he became a World Track Champion at Manchester when he won the Madison race with Bradley Wiggins.

His only real disappointment came when the pair couldn't repeat the performance at the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Back to those World Road Championships and two Manx riders have been selected for the five strong British Under-23 team for the road race - Jonny Bellis and Peter Kennaugh will compete in the 173km event next Friday 26th September.