Mark Cavendish wholly focused on Tour de France in 2017

Mark Cavendish says that his 2017 season will be built around the Tour de France as he re-focusses his aims after a 2016 spent on the road and track.

The 31-year-old Manxman's busy year saw him take four stages of the Tour de France – the most he has taken in one edition since 2011 – and a silver medal in the omnium at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. He then went on to win the Ghent Six Day in Belgium with Bradley Wiggins.

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Now, Cavendish is switching his focus back to the tarmac as he once again aims to take Tour de France stage victories.

With nine potential stages for sprinters to claim glory in the 2017 Tour, there could be rich pickings for the Dimension Data rider, although he says that he will start 2017 with unknown form given his busy winter.

“Everything is built around July,” Cavendish told Cycling Weekly.

"I’m a month behind when it comes to training. Maybe because I finished late I’ll start at a better level than where I’m at; but maybe I will be terrible and need a couple more months to get into it, I really don’t know."

Cavendish is hoping to kick off his 2017 campaign at the Dubai Tour, running for five days from January 31.

The full interview with Mark Cavendish is in Cycling Weekly magazine December 15 issue, on sale from Thursday priced £3.99.