Tuesday 2 February 2016 19:15, UK
Mark Cavendish says he has no idea if he is in good enough form to defend his title at the Dubai Tour, which starts on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old Manxman won two stages and topped the general classification at last year's edition of the four-day race but goes into the 2016 instalment having spent all winter training on the track and very little time on the road.
He did not take part in his usual season-opener, last month's Tour de San Luis in Argentina, and failed to finish his only road race so far this year, last week's Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in Australia.
Speaking at a pre-race press conference, Cavendish said: "I don't know. I have only done one day of racing, so I'm not too sure of my form. We will have to see.
"I haven't been to the Tour de San Luis, which is my normal start to the season. I feel OK, but I will probably have to wait until we are racing to see.
"I am sprinting good. I have been working hard on the track and the Dubai Tour lends itself to that. We have come here with a strong team and, hopefully, we can get results."
As well as questions over his form, Cavendish will have to overcome some of his fiercest sprint rivals in Dubai, not least Marcel Kittel and Elia Viviani.
Kittel replaced arch-rival Cavendish at Etixx - Quick-Step over the winter, but the German does not believe the sprint stages will be a shootout solely between the two of them.
He said: "I think it's not only Mark and me. We have seen Elia is also here, and Giacomo [Nizzolo], so it's more than only two sprinters.
"It's going to be interesting because it is a flat race and in the last years we always saw a lot of sprints, so it's a good challenge for all the sprinters."
