Mark Cavendish's hopes of riding for Great Britain at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio received a significant boost over the weekend as he placed third in the omnium at the Dudenhofen Grand Prix in Germany (August 28-29), collecting enough points to qualify for this winter's UCI Track World Cup.
Cavendish required just 18 points going into the race after his appearance at the Revolution meet in Derby, where he won the Madison with Bradley Wiggins and placed second in the omnium behind Ed Clancy.
On the outdoor track in Germany, Cavendish placed third in the omnium behind Roger Kluge and Kenny De Ketele, securing the points required. Cavendish now needs to finish 24th or higher in the omnium in one of the 2015-16 Track World Cup events to qualify for the event in Rio.
The Manxman returns to the road this weekend, riding in the Tour of Britain for Etixx-QuickStep (September 6-13), before heading to Richmond, USA, for the World Championships road race at the end of September.
>>> What does Mark Cavendish have to do to ride the Rio Olympics?
Two golds for GB in Germany
British sprinter Callum Skinner won the sprint competition ahead of Maximilian Levy of Germany, and Katie Archbald won the women's omnium ahead of fellow Brit and Olympic champion Laura Trott.
Further medals were claimed by Skinner in the keirin (silver), and Katy Marchant in the sprint (silver) and 500m time trial (bronze).
Sprinter Becky James continued her comeback from injury with a solid ride, placing fifth in the sprint and fourth in the keirin.
The 2015-16 UCI Track Cycling World Cup commences on October 30, with the first round in Cali, Colombia. Subsequent rounds take place in Cambridge (New Zealand) and Hong Kong (China).
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