Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) finished the Dubai Tour stage 1 time trial in 37th place. But he's there for the sprints in the days to come, anyway. And the Manxman doesn't want to rush anything this year.

“I think I'm in good form, looking just to build up easily,” Cavendish said to Eurosport in a pre-race interview. “My best seasons have been when I started off pretty easily.”

With some new additions to the team during the off-season, the race will also provide an opportunity to fine-tune the sprint train: “It's the first time Mark Renshaw and Alessandro Petacchi are riding together, so we're looking to work on that. Hopefully we'll get some results from it as well.”

With world time trial champion Tony Martin beaten by Taylor Phinney, Steven Cummings (both BMC) and young Dane Lasse Norman Hansen (Garmin-Sharp) in the prologue, Omega Pharma-Quick Step now has look to Cavendish for success in the Dubai race.