Mark Cavendish adds Ghent Six Day to his track comeback

Mark Cavendish will continue his track cycling comeback at the Ghent Six Day next month.

The British sprint star will kick off his winter on the boards at the Six Day London at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park velodrome next week, where he will race with Team Ineos rider Owain Doull.

Cavendish will then appear at the 79th Ghent Six Day from November 12, where he will race with Belgian track legend and his former Quick-Step team-mate Iljo Keisse.

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The 34-year-old may be considering his chances of a medal on the track at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, having won silver in Rio in 2016.

But when asked by Cycling Weekly if the Olympics were his goal, the Manxman was coy.

“We’ll see what happens,” he said. “I’m going to focus on what I’m doing right now and see what comes from that.”

“It’s not the fact I have to get myself in that mindset [to switch between track and road]. I did them both growing up so I know how to do it anyway, but it’s the physical thing, it’s pretty hard to change from one to the other.”

Cavendish is currently at a crossroads in his career, having not been selected to ride a Grand Tour in 2019 as his contract with Dimension Data comes to an end this year.

Rumours suggest that he will join Bahrain-Merida, where his former coach Rod Ellingworth is set to take over as team principal, which could be a reinvigorating change.

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But before the road season, Cavendish will spend the winter racing indoors, first with Six Day London from October 22-27, where he will face his old rival Elia Viviani and young star Caleb Ewan in a host of disciplines.

Cavendish will have fond memories of Six Day racing, after a rapturous reception in London in 2016 when he partnered with Sir Bradley Wiggins and then Ghent that same year where Wiggins ended his career.