Mark Cavendish was one of the many stars of the Tour de France route presentation in Paris on Thursday morning and is looking forward to the opening three stages in Britain next year.
Despite its lumpy start, the 185km first stage between the Scottish capital Edinburgh and the English city of Carlisle may well be one which suits the punchy sprinters, as it flattens out before crossing the border with around 40km to go. And should a sprinter win, they will wear yellow for at least one day.
Cavendish did just that in 2016, winning the opening stage at Utah Beach in Normandy when racing for the Dimension Data squad, and he’s backing another sprinter to repeat that performance at next year’s race.
After winning five stages of the recent Vuelta a España, his first Grand Tour, British star Matthew Brennan has certainly put his hand up as one to do that, and even spoke about the prospect of wearing yellow when in Spain. And while he didn’t mention Brennan by name, when asked, Cavendish acknowledged the chance is a real one.
"I always like when there's an opportunity for the sprinters to pull on a yellow jersey in the first stage of the Tour de France," he said after the presentation.
"I was very fortunate to have that opportunity a couple of times and then pull on the yellow jersey once in my career, and it's really nice to see that on the first stage in the UK.
"Hopefully we can have a winner that'll make a nice story for what will be an incredible weekend."
Cavendish experienced two British Grands Départs during his long career, first in London in 2007 when he raced his maiden Tour, then again in 2014, when he crashed out of contention late in the opening stage in Harrogate. But he believes the British people have a real affinity with the race.
"I think people still talk about it today, 12, 13 years later. Unfortunately, that stage didn't finish as well as I'd hoped, but it was incredible to experience it, and to see the Tour de France go back there," he said.
"I think there's an incredible relationship between France and the UK, and Great Britain really appreciates the Tour de France for being the greatest sporting event on the planet, and you really see that when it goes there.
"To be able to see it in not even just a small portion of the UK, but in Scotland, in England, in Wales, it's very, very spectacular.
"The second stage to Liverpool, actually, if it's a clear day, we'll see my home in the Isle of Man from across the sea, and a lot of the roads I know very well, and I'm really excited to see the excitement for the Tour de France there always is when the Grand Départ is in the UK."
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