This year, the now 31-year-old Manxman has spent huge chunks of time riding in velodromes in preparation for representing Great Britain in the omnium at the Rio Olympics.

Nonetheless, Cavendish has managed to race 36 days on the road in 2016, but his three sprint wins compares measly with the 12 victories he had accumulated at this time a year ago and six short of his 2014 total.

Talking to the press prior to Saturday's opening stage in Normandy, Cavendish shared his thoughts, "It's been completely different. I have had a pretty track-focused build-up. I used a lot of racing to build my endurance. I really do not know how it will be. It could be the best thing I've done; it could be the worst thing I've done," Sky Sports reported.

Earlier this season, Cavendish's Great Britain coaches warned that he would need to abandon the Tour early in order to commence his final preparations for the Olympic omnium, which takes place on August 14-15. Cavendish, however, was having none of that. He is resolute in his desire to complete all 21 stages and take part in cycling's most prestigious sprint, on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, on Sunday, July 24 saying, "I'm not coming to the Tour de France planning to stop. This is my 10th Tour de France start. Every time I stopped, it's been for different circumstances, so you never know the circumstances to it.”

"I know that my eight team-mates are going to do their best to get to Paris and I'm going to try to do my best to get to Paris."