Mark Cavendish facing period of reinvention as Marcel Kittel and Andre Greipel bridge gap

Mark Cavendish's most endearing trait - even more than his quicksilver turn of speed, pinpoint timing and sheer will to win - is his knack of telling things exactly how they are.

The task facing Cavendish has similarities. He has to find his weaknesses, eradicate them and overcome. His ultra-low position on the bike is textbook and does not need to change, nor does his lightning-quick thinking, wily sense of positioning or eye for an opening. Kittel and Greipel remain no match in those departments. But where the German duo appear to now be streets ahead is in raw muscle power. When Greipel took his jersey off mid-stage during the Tour to remove an under-vest, he inadvertently revealed an upper body worthy of the super-middleweight division. Kittel is no beanpole either. Cavendish, on the other hand, still has the body shape he has had since his teenage years. There are no hulking biceps or rippling quads. So maybe that is the answer: to hit the gym, pump some iron and add brute power to the myriad attributes that originally put him on the pedestal from which he is now in danger of being toppled. Whatever Cavendish's answer is, whatever action he chooses to take to counter Kittel and Greipel, we can rest assured he will pull no punches when telling us about it.