Mark Cavendish's return to the Tour de France will depend on winning high-level races between now and July, Bahrain McLaren manager Rod Ellingworth has suggested.

Cavendish has 30 wins in the Tour, which is just four short of the record held by Eddy Merckx. Last year he was dropped from the Dimension Data Tour team, ending a 12-year run of consecutive Tour appearances.

Cavendish, now with Bahrain McLaren, is said to be fully healthy from his battle with the Epstein-Barr virus. He made his season debut at last week's Tour of Saudi Arabia, and although he didn't contend for the win, he helped fellow sprinter Phil Bauhaus to two stage victories and the overall win.

Speaking to Cycling News, Ellingworth expressed confidence that Cavendish would win again, but suggested that the Tour de France was not even on his calendar.

"Nobody is guaranteed a place in the Tour. This year's Tour is a Tour of sorts, and it will be a great Tour de France for Mikel Landa," Ellingworth said.

The question is whether Bahrain will follow Ellingworth's old lead and focus on the overall contenders, or whether there will be room for a sprinter and one or two lead-out men.

"It's a possibility," said Barlain. 'We have a long way to go, but it could be part of the plan. I think it's a possibility.

Cavendish still needs to prove he is worthy of a slot in the eight.

"For Mark, if he's winning and performing well, there's no way he wouldn't consider going on that trip and becoming the best stage winner in Tour de France history. If he's winning at the World Tour level, there's no reason not to get him."

Ellingworth felt that Cavendish had the ability to win the Tour of Saudi Arabia, but race conditions prevented him from doing so.

On the second stage, Cavendish crashed twice and decided to work for Bauhaus, who reversed the hierarchy and finished second. The next day he was named sprinter, but opened a gap when Bauhaus led him.

"He said, 'Don't commit to me, commit to Phil if I'm okay.' To me, it was a 10 out of 10. In a way it was a missed opportunity, but a 10 out of 10 for his commitment to the team," Ellingworth said.

"Then obviously the GC unfolded and he committed to it again with Phil. I think Cav could have won the final stage by himself. There is no doubt that he was in good enough condition. That was the way the race unfolded

"Mark personally is in the right position physically. He still has some work to do, but he is definitely on track. And I'm confident going into the sprint. It's not going to be easy."

Cavendish's idea of "putting himself on the line" is interesting in light of an observation published in the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad during the Tour of Saudi Arabia. After the finish of the second stage, a Bahrain McLaren rider was quoted as saying of Cavendish: "He doesn't seem to have the courage to win anymore."

Ellingworth appeared to dismiss these comments, but acknowledged the psychological toll on Cavendish and the process of "getting him back on his feet" to win.

"I don't know if he's saying, 'Don't dare try to win.' What he is saying is that Mark was not in the line of fire that day because of that crash." If he hadn't fallen over we would have been moving for the mark and I think he was going for it. He didn't put himself on the line that day. He knew Phil could get a good result, but he didn't want to let the team down by committing.

"It must be pretty tough mentally for him to be such a great winner and not have any wins the last couple of years. It's about building him back up to a winner again. We don't know what will happen. If we knew what would happen in the future, we would make a lot of money. All I know is that he is doing really well right now. He's certainly in a good place and we're very happy with him."

Cavendish will be supported by Marco Haller in the next Tour of the UAE, where he will build his team around the overall battle of Wout Poels. After that, the team will travel to Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-San Remo, and a one-day race in Belgium.

Beyond that, the summer and future are still undecided.

"Running with him is step by step," Ellingworth says.

"In terms of his health, we just checked that box. He really suffered. I guess the virus does that. But he's been training well for four months.

"He still wants to win for himself. I'd like to see Mark Cavendish flinging his arms in the air again. Where and how that happens is the question."