Mark Cavendish admits he is such a fan of Dubai that the city alone provides plenty of motivation for him to do his best at the Dubai Tour this weekend.

– #Quiz360: WIN dinner for 2 at Towers Rotana, Dubai
– Mark Cavendish wins 145km opening stage of the Dubai Tour 2015

The Manxman, who edged a close photo finish sprint with Andrea Guardini and Elia Viviani to grab the first stage of the Dubai Tour, is enjoying an incredible start to his 2015 season, having also won a stage at the Tour de San Luis in Argentina last month.

 

 

Yesterday’s Union Flag stage in Dubai took the riders through desert, skyscrapers and along the Jumeirah Beach Road. And while the scenic route looked stunning on TV screens worldwide, Cavendish confessed that all he sees while riding are “some wheels and male asses”.

But even though he never looks around while cycling, for him, just competing in the northern emirate is inspiring enough.

“I love it here in Dubai. I come here on my holidays. I don’t get one often but when I do I always come here whether with my wife or with my whole family,” Cavendish told reporters yesterday at the Dubai Tour headquarters at the Dubai International Marine Club.

“It’s always great, there’s so much to do here. When you go out in the city, it’s spot on. So it’s nice to be here to race. Looking around, I don’t really do that, but to race the greatest riders in the world in Dubai is something that is quite spectacular just to think of that, let alone ride it.”

Cavendish attributed his good form so early in the year to a strong offseason, where he feels he bonded well with his Etixx-Quick-Step team-mates. They’ve set higher targets for 2015 and he’s confident they can reach them.

“I’m super-happy with my form, and super-happy with the cohesion between Etixx – Quick-Step. We really rode strong as a team in Argentina and we really rode strong as a team here,” said the rider who is dubbed the world’s fastest man on two wheels.

“The whole winter I was incredibly happy. At training camp it was such a good ambience. We knew we’d start off on a good note.

“We won 60 races last year, and we want to better on that this year. It’s really not going to be a big ask, I don’t think, because you can feel the motivation, the desire to go out as a unit and win.”