Mark Cavendish hopes to bounce back from his Harrogate horror to return to winning ways at the Tour de France.

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The 30-year-old from the Isle of Man begins his ninth Tour today in Utrecht and has 25 stage wins to his name.

He is still to claim his 26th win and the race leader’s fabled yellow jersey after his pursuit on last year’s stage from Leeds to Harrogate, his mother’s home town, ended on the Tarmac and with a separated shoulder which required surgery.

“I crashed out on the first stage of last year’s Tour de France in Harrogate and I missed the race a lot,” Cavendish said. “I was in superb form and to sit at home and watch the race wasn’t easy.

“We’ve looked at trying to come into the Tour de France in the same form I was in last year and hopefully get back to winning ways.

“I was in incredible form at the beginning of last year’s Tour and I knew if I could do the same kind of lead up to this year’s Tour then I’d be in similar condition.”

Cavendish is out of contract with Etixx-QuickStep at the end of the year and the Tour could be pivotal in determining what the future holds.

His hopes of adding to his tally improved when Marcel Kittel, whose win in Harrogate was one of eight stage successes in the last two years, was not selected by Gian following an illness-plagued season.

Only Eddy Merckx, with 34, and Bernard Hinault, with 28, are ahead of Cavendish in the rankings of Tour stage wins. Cavendish added: “I’d like to add more than one stage.”

Meanwhile veteran Fabian Cancellara, 34, is aiming to win an opening stage or prologue for the sixth time, and don the famous yellow jersey for perhaps the last time. The Swiss known as Spartacus admitted this could be his last Tour. 

“I thought about this could be my last participation and last possibility to arrive in Paris, yes this is in my mind,” he said.

“I’m used to dealing with pressure and ambitions. There will be a few riders I’ll have to look into but in the end it’s you and your bike. You have to give maximum effort.”