Cavendish targeting yellow jersey, Olympic medal and Worlds in 2016

“I could be flying, I could be catastrophic, I could be indifferent,” says Mark Cavendish of the possible impact of training for the track as well as the road in 2016.

Speaking to the BBC, the sprinter revealed that he has three major goals for the season – to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France, to win an Olympic medal and the World Championships Road Race.

"If I won one I'd be happy,” he said. “But I'll try to win all three."

Cavendish has previously suggested that track speed is beneficial to his road racing, but admits that he isn’t entirely sure what the impact will be of doing more specific work this year. "I don't know how that is going to affect my road racing. I could be flying, I could be catastrophic, I could be indifferent. I don't really know – we will have to see when I get racing."

The extent of his work in the velodrome may depend on how well he performs at the Track World Cup in Hong Kong on January 16 and 17.

"If I don't do anything in Hong Kong you won't be talking to me about the Olympics," he said, alluding to the competition within the British team for the single omnium place on offer. While he has described an Olympic medal as being the only thing missing “from what I can physically achieve as a cyclist,” he is up against two-time Olympic team pursuit gold medallist, Ed Clancy, and Jon Dibben.

British endurance track coach Heiko Salzwedel has previously said that having three world-class omnium riders competing for one spot is “a luxury problem,” adding: “It's probably easier to win the Olympics than win selection."

However, Cavendish jokes that the leap year will give him a better chance of balancing his ambitions. Speaking to The Guardian, he said he thought his various aims were possible with careful planning.

“If you work every single day – there’s 366 this year. I might have to re-evaluate later but I believe it’s possible. It will be hard to do but I believe I can do it. The guys at British cycling – Shane Sutton and Heiko Salzwedel – are the first to say if there’s someone who can do it, it’s me.

“Do you think you’re being insulting to my talent as a bike rider by asking? I did it in 2008. I was 23 in 2008. Won four stages of the Tour. I then went to Beijing and I believe I was the strongest guy on the track in Beijing. And I was nowhere near as fit as I am now. I believe it’s doable. If I thought it wasn’t doable I wouldn’t be doing it. And people around me believe I can. They’ve worked me long enough to know that if I put my mind to something I can go above and beyond.”

Whoever rides the omnium may also need to be ‘fifth man’ for the team pursuit and Cavendish does admit that things have moved on from his days in the Great Britain academy. “My fastest-ever team pursuit, when we medalled in a World Cup, was 4min 4sec. We go faster in the warm-up efforts in training now. We’ll do that in the middle of a 5k effort. To win in Rio you’re going to have to go sub 3.50.”

Before then, however, the Tour de France, where an opening sprint stage presents a rare opportunity for Cavendish to don the yellow jersey. It promises to be a busy year.