Cavendish hopes not hit

The 25-year-old suffered skin rash and bruising when he collided with German Heinrich Haussler close to the finish of stage four of the Tour of Switzerland.

"There was a couple of days without riding hard and a couple of sleepless nights but it wasn't too bad," Cavendish said in an interview, with the wounds on his right arm clearly visible.

"It was just skin taken off, it's uncomfortable but it's part of the game of cycling," added the HTC-Columbia rider, who also lost some skin on his back.

"If we were worried about that we'd be wearing leathers. It happens - it's not the first time I've crashed and it won't be the last time I crashed, you've just got to put up with it."

Cavendish, who took six wins in the 2009 Tour, is eyeing the race's green jersey for the best sprinter having lost it by 10 points to Norway's Thor Hushovd last year after being docked points for dangerous sprinting at the end of a stage.

The Manxman was practically unbeatable in sprints last season with victory in the Milan San-Remo Classic as well as three stages of the Giro d'Italia but this year he has been more low-key on the road after suffering from a mouth infection in January.

However, Cavendish, who has three wins so far in 2010, is back on track and confident of peaking for the three-week Tour.

"It's easy to say I've only had three wins instead of 13 this time last year but this time last year I'd done 15 sprints and this year I've done six sprints, so it's still relative," he said.

Frustration over criticism of his form got Cavendish in trouble with his team and cycling officials during the Tour de Romandie when he celebrated victory in the second stage in April with a two-fingered salute.

Cavendish apologised for the gesture, was fined for his behaviour and then withdrawn from the race by his team.

"I haven't won as much because I haven't done as much, it's as simple as that. It doesn't mean I'm on bad form or anything," he said.

"I was out for nearly three weeks with it (the mouth infection). It was right at the wrong part of the season, in January. I missed out on 3,000 km of riding which is a lot to do.

"You've got to get that back somewhere. You can force it in before the season but there's a danger it can lead to illness, or your form peaking and then troughing massively and I didn't want that.

"I wanted to build up gradually for the Tour so that's what we did.

"When I sat down in January to plan my season I'm at the point I thought I'd be at so I'm happy, the team's happy and we're excited."