William Fotheringham/Cycling Columnist

Mark Cavendish was a frustrated man in last year’s Tour de France as Team Sky focused on Bradley Wiggins’s overall victory but he returns this year with an Omega-Pharma-Quickstep team completely devoted to his service on a course which he feels should suit his goal of repeating his victory in the points classification in 2011.

“I think it’s quite similar to how the Giro used to be in the past either flat days or really, really hard days. It’s going to be a difficult Tour to finish but it’s more open to stage wins and it’s more helpful for the green jersey in my opinion. It’s open to a lot of sprint finishes.”

He would not be drawn on whether this will help him overcome the obvious threat, the Slovak prodigy Peter Sagan, but on paper it is more propitious, as Sagan would normally expect to pick up points on the “medium mountain” stages, of which there are few.

Paradoxical though it sounds, Cavendish’s chances are enhanced by the presence of other strong sprinters in the field as their teams will help to control the stages where a sprint hangs in the balance. “Last year, if I had had a dedicated sprint team, there would’ve been more sprint stages than there was, if that makes sense. There’s normally seven (sprints) every Tour. There’s enough sprint teams this year to guarantee there will be seven.” He points in particular to the Lotto squad, who will ride for the German Andr Greipel, and the Argos team, who have Marcel Kittel.

Alongside them Sagan will start as favourite for the green jersey, simply because he marries above-average climbing ability with a strong sprint. “He’s an incredible bike rider. Incredible,” said Cavendish. “I can’t try to stay with him on a climb, so what’s the point in thinking about him? I’ve just got to go and not look at other people, just do my own thing. I’ve just got to try to win stages and hopefully (the green jersey) comes from that.

Given the flat profile of the first stage today, it is highly likely that one of the sprinters will win the first yellow jersey, a target that Cavendish has already said is in his sights. “It’s the only jersey of all the sprints and the GCs (general classifications) that I haven’t worn yet (in the three big Tours). It’s not just one of the most iconic symbols in cycling, it’s one of the most iconic symbols in the world of sport.”   — Guardian News Service