Mark Cavendish' participation in the UCI Track World Championship was to be decided based on his results obtained in the Tour of Qatar, and clearly one stage and general classification taken by the Manxman were convincing enough to give him a green light. Great Britain's team technical director Shane Sutton announced on Tuesday that the Dimension Data sprinter will race the Omnium and the Madison on the velodrome in London.

Cavendish pursues some extremely ambitious goals this season, an Olympic medal in Omnium being one of them. But in order to qualify for Rio, the Manxman must live up to expectations in the Track World Championships in March.

The Madison event must seem especially exciting for British spectators, as Cavendish will team up with Bradley Wiggins, with whom he won a World Championship in that discipline back in 2008.

“We saw enough in Hong Kong to justify his selection for Worlds. We saw the speed across the line in the flying lap and he showed his tactical nous in the scratch race. He didn’t have a big build up and he was a little bit short in one or two events but given he was away from track for such a long time I think he’s moved on," Sutton told Cyclingnews.

“At the Worlds he has to be in contention when going into that final points race, for sure. To cement and Olympic spot he will want to medal in Worlds. At the same time if he thinks that he can’t deliver then I think that he will put his hand up and say so. He’s got to take responsibility and he’s got to make this happen.”