Blazin' Saddles: 10 reasons why this could be Mark Cavendish's year

Updated 08/01/2016 at 13:56 GMT

Mark Cavendish's target of a Tour de France-World Championship-Olympic triple this season may be ambitious, but Felix Lowe says that the omens are promising for the 30-year-old British sprinter and track star.

Mark Cavendish

Image credit: Reuters

After three years at Etixx-QuickStep, Cavendish joined Dimension Data this winter just weeks before the South African team were granted WorldTour status following their breakthrough Tour de France last July (when they were still racing under the MTN-Qhubeka name).

Having spent time with his new team-mates on a get-together at Cape Town, Cavendish based himself in Manchester over the Christmas holidays in order to combine his track and road training ahead of what he admits will be a "full-on" season.

Mark Cavendish of Britain

Image credit: Reuters

La Vuelta Femenina

La Vuelta Femenina 2024: How to watch on Eurosport and discovery+

8 hours ago

Following his appearance at the Revolution Series at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester, Cavendish this week spoke to journalists about his lofty ambitions for 2016. He also granted Eurosport some one-on-one time as he outlined his aims - which include grabbing an elusive first yellow jersey, an Olympic gold medal and securing the fabled rainbow stripe jersey of the world champion for the second time in his career.

Critics will say this is an overly ambitious gaze for a rider supposedly on the wane, but here are 10 reasons why things are looking rosy for the third most prolific Tour stage winner of all time...

He's on the right team

I truly believe that the team has a talent and ambition. We've got an incredibly balanced team with some great bike riders.

Eyebrows that were raised when Cavendish joined MTN-Qhubeka while they were still a Pro-Continental outfit no longer furrow the brow. With new sponsors on board and an influx of stars, Dimension Data - as they team is now known - looks to be the perfect environment for Cav, who frequently used the words "relaxed", "refreshing" and "happy" when meeting the media on Tuesday.

It was a "no-brainer" to join Dimension Data, he said, "really enticing to anyone" and a decision that leaves him "super excited" about his new home.

"From the outside the team looked like a nice place to be - and from the inside I can say my thoughts were right," he said.

"With the right kind of growth trajectory it will be one of the biggest teams in the peloton over the next few years."

Crucially, Cavendish remains grounded: "If we don't win races and we still highlight African cycling and the Qhubeka charity then I think we're in a winning situation then as well. There's pressure to be successful, but it's not the be-all and end-all."

He's back on track. Literally.

If I'm honest, the fact that I'm combining the two [track and road] doesn't excite me at all. It's going to be really tough. But at the moment I think it's going to be possible.

Cavendish was the only British track cyclist not to pick up a medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympics and after giving the London 2012 velodrome a wide berth, he's decided the time is right to fill up that vacant spot in the trophy cabinet.

CYCLING Beijing 2008 - Great Britain's Bradley Wiggins (left) and Mark Cavendish during the Men's Madison at the Laoshan Velodrome

Image credit: PA Photos

The journey will be long. Cavendish will first need to perform in the Hong Kong track World Cup later this month to even put himself in the frame for selection in the omnium category; he has to convince selectors that he stands a better chance at winning than Ed Clancy, one of Team GB's stand-out performers in the last Summer Games.

But the wheels are in motion. And when Cavendish last rode the track to complement his road cycling - in 2008 - he won four stages on the Tour. Repeat that and he'll leapfrog Bernard Hinault and move onto 30 wins, just four behind Eddy Merckx's all-time record.

Yellow incentive

I'd like to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France. It's the only Grand Tour leader's jersey that I haven't worn yet - and it starts with a sprint again this year.

Cavendish missed the opportunity of donning a career first maillot jaune in his mother's home town of Harrogate when he crashed out during the opening stage of the 2014 Tour, 12 months after a pile-up deprived him of a similar opportunity in Bastia. An opening stage from Mont Saint Michel to Utah Beach should see one of the peloton's fast men become the first leader of the 2016 edition - and Cavendish will be hoping it's a case of third time lucky.

World vision

Only Tom Boonen has won more stages in the Qatari desert than Cavendish, whose eighth career victory there secured him the Tour of Qatar crown in 2013. His early season race programme allows Cavendish to make his first appearance in Qatar for three years: perfect preparation, then, for October's World Championships - which are held in Doha.

Great Britain's road race team

More than just suiting a sprinter, [the road race world championships at Qatar] really suits Great Britain as a team.

Cavendish is completely confident that having back-up from the likes of Geraint Thomas, Ian Stannard and Luke Rowe will put him in the driving seat to win the World Championshipsk, since conditions should suit them perfectly.

"They are strong, strong guys who do well in the classics and the wind - are formidable," he said.

"I think that team could be really dominant in the world championships. We have the strength in depth with some of the best bike riders in the world who can come together whatever the conditions over there in Qatar."

Familiar faces at Dimension Data

There are guys there who I've raced with in my career and there are guys I joke with because we never thought we'd end up racing on the same team together.

With Cavendish joining the likes of Mark Renshaw, Bernie Eisel, Kanstantin Siutsou and Edvald Boasson Hagen at Dimension Data, it's no surprise there's been more articles written about HTC reunions than Carlos Betancur has had hot dinners.

Mark Renshaw of Australia and Mark Cavendish of Great Britain of the HTC-Columbia Team take a training ride (AFP)

Image credit: AFP

Cavendish describes this coming together of old friends as "massively exciting". "We had a brilliant time at our team get-together," he added.

"We were talking about our last years racing against each other and now we've come together and we have a different perspective on a team and on the sport.

Back with bestie Bernie

It's great to be back with Bernie. He just looks after me on the road. He's there, always with me.

A lot is written about Cavendish's formidable partnership with lead-out man Mark Renshaw, but this stat is even more telling: 23 of Cavendish's 26 Tour stage wins have come alongside Bernard Eisel - a man Cav describes as "the best guy to be around".

"I can remember every race that we were at. People know that if Bernie's coming through, they leave space for two," said Cavendish.

2011 Tour de France: Mark Cavendish and Bernie Eisel

Image credit: Eurosport

"More than that, off the bike he's one of my best friends in the world. To room with him is so nice because you finish cycling, you do your homework for the next day, then you don't talk about cycling.

"In the old days it was all about cars and girls, now it's babies and pushchairs."

The Farrar factor

We actually get on so well now. At some points in our careers we really didn't like each other. But we just had such a laugh about it in Cape Town. Can you imagine that we'd be on the same team?

They used to be sworn enemies in the peloton, a fractious relationship riddled with more bickering than Nico Roche and John Gadret on a night out in Toulouse. But by some quirk of fortune, Cavendish now finds himself riding in the same team as flame-haired American Tyler Farrar.

And by Cavendish's reckoning, Farrar's racing brain and experience will be a huge factor in developing the young talent at Dimension Data: "Tyler's been with the team this past year and I can see what he brings to the young riders, especially the African riders who have this amazing talent.

"Africa is a new developing country in cycling and once the guys learn this mentality of European racing, that talent is going to shine through. And you need guys with experience racing in Europe to show that and Tyler's done an incredible job this year."

Time off over the winter

I had longer off than expected because of shoulder injury. But I've worked really hard and I'm super happy with where I am at the beginning of January.

Cavendish's collision with a parked car during the Tour of Britain resulted in an enforced two-month break from the bike - something he feels will put him in good stead come the business end of the season.

If two months off the bike was a welcome tonic, Cavendish admits he's jealous of Marcel Kittel - the man replacing him at Etixx-QuickStep and the sprinter he views as his biggest rival despite a rotten final season at Giant-Alpecin.

"I think Kittel will be good this year because he had a year out. I wish I could have a year out. I think he's going to be coming back strong this year," he said.

"I know what it's like to be at QuickStep, what the guys are like and what a great environment it is to be in. I think he'll benefit from that. I'm a bit jealous of him that he got to have a year out and he still gets a contract."

A merry Christmas

Kids put a different perspective on your life. Christmas was pretty special although I was training before and after.

While Cavendish was training in the velodrome until 3pm on Christmas Eve and out on the roads around Manchester on Boxing Day, he did get to spend the whole of Christmas Day with his two children, Delilah and Frey, wife Peta, and their extended families.

Monitoring his turkey intake was "probably the hardest part of Christmas" because Peta is an "incredible cook".

"I remember being in Tenerife in November and I spoke to her and I said, 'You know what, I'm looking forward to Christmas dinner'. It was a month before, but I knew that if I watched everything I ate, every day before Christmas, then I could have a proper dinner cooked by my wife. It was really nice."

What do you think - can Cavendish secure both the yellow and rainbow jerseys before winning an elusive Olympic medal in Rio? Have your say below...

Tour de Romandie