Mark Cavendish targets Tour de France, Olympic Games & worlds
By Matt Westby
Last Updated: 06/01/16 2:29pm
Mark Cavendish wants to win the opening stage of the Tour de France, an Olympic gold medal on the track and a second world road race title in a "full-on" 2016.
Wearing the Tour leader's yellow jersey and being crowned Olympic champion are the only two remaining gaps in Cavendish's cycling CV and he hopes to fill both in what could develop into a defining year of his career.
In addition, the road race at October's UCI Road World Championships in Doha looks almost certain to end in a sprint, so the 30-year-old Manxman has decided to extend his season and bid to add another rainbow jersey to the one he won in 2011.
Speaking at a press conference at the Manchester Velodrome, where he is currently training with the Great Britain track team, Cavendish said: "I think I would like to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France. It's the only Grand Tour leader's jersey I haven't worn yet. It starts with a sprint again this year.
"I would like to compete - I would like to win - at the Olympic Games. And there's the world road champs at the end of the year as well, so it's a pretty full-on year.
"But I've done it before, in 2011, when I won the green jersey [at the Tour de France] and the World Championships, so I think I can do it again, and I'm in a good environment to do it."
Cavendish is hoping to win Britain's lone place in the six-race omnium at Rio 2016 and will aim to seal qualification when he competes at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Hong Kong on January 16-17.
However, qualification is not his biggest obstacle, as London 2012 omnium bronze medallist Ed Clancy and up-and-coming prospect Jon Dibben are also both vying for the spot.
Cavendish won world titles on the track in 2005 and 2008 but has raced little on the boards in the intervening years and has consequently spent the winter in Manchester to reacclimatise.
He added: "It's been different, that's for sure. I haven't done that kind of focused track training for 10 years, so it's different to be back and track has totally changed since I last really did it - the speeds they go and the gears they are using.
"But it's been complementing my road [training]. It's not great weather up here, but at least I can get out in the hills and that, and then I've been going back to the Isle of Man on weekends."
Cavendish needs to impress British Cycling's coaches in Hong Kong if he is to earn Olympic selection, but he insists he will be far from at his best.
He said: "I'm not going to be winning the Hong Kong World Cup. It's January, you know, and the Olympic Games are in August, the Tour de France is in July.
"I've got a road season now. If I'm flying now, in January, I may as well sit at home for the rest of the year."
