Mark Cavendish has admitted that he remains in the dark as to where he will race next season, with a new Deceuninck - Quick-Step contract still not agreed.
The Briton completed an incredible comeback this summer by winning four stages of the Tour de France and the points classification, well and truly putting behind him a three year winning drought.
Despite his success and his reascension to the top of cycling's sprinting stakes, Decueninck - Quick-Step's manager Patrick Lefevere warned Cavendish that he shouldn't overvalue his worth.
Ahead of the Tour of Britain, Cavendish revealed that his future remains uncertain, but that he wishes to prolong his stay with the Belgian super-team.
"I said at the beginning of the year I wasn’t looking for a fairytale but I’ve had a fairytale," the Guardian reports the Manx man saying.
"It would be easy to say I’m done, [but] I’m still confident I’m on an upward stretch. If I didn’t believe I could get better I would stop.
"I’m looking at carrying on, I hope it will be with Deceuninck but I don’t know. It’s not down to me."
Before tasting quadruple success at the Tour that moved him onto 34 stage wins alongside Eddy Merckx, Cavendish had returned to winning form with four wins at the Tour of Turkey and a stage win in the Belgium Tour.
It marked a huge change in fortunes from last autumn when it looked like the 2011 world champion would hang up his wheels.
Now, though, Cavendish believes that age will not disrupt him in his quest to keep on improving.
He added: "At the beginning of the year I was adamant this would be my last year, [but] what I’ve gained from this year is that I don’t believe I’ll stay at this level, I believe I will get even better.
"In the old days I never lost a race. This year I’ve won a lot, but I’ve come second and third a lot. It’s about consistently winning. I want to go back to when I didn’t lose. I should be able to win whatever race I go to."
In a separate interview with the Telegraph, Cavendish admitted to being upset for a few days after failing to win the final Tour de France stage in Paris, but in a further indication of his belief, he declared that "it won't happen next time."
Whether he stays at Deceuninck - Quick-Step or not, he's confident he will add to his tally of 155 professional wins.
"All I know is I can still win," he said. "And I know I’m going to be even better next year.
"So for me it’s a no-brainer [to continue]. I wouldn’t be riding my bike if I didn’t believe I could win again.
"I would have stopped two years ago, or a year ago. But I just knew I was going to get back to the top level of sprinting. I’m still hungry. I’m still professional. And I know I can be even better.”
