Mark Cavendish looking forward to 'festival style' Tour de Yorkshire

Mark Cavendish says his form isn't far off where he hoped to be, despite a stop-start 2018 season to date.

The Manxman's 2018 has be plagued with crashes so far, most recently with a spectacular crash at Milan-San Remo.

However despite these setbacks, Cavendish doesn't believe the time off the bike has hampered his form in the build up to the Tour de France,

"Honestly, I’m not far off where I wanted to be. I was really good after the winter and completely on track for where I wanted to be throughout the year and those set backs didn’t push me back as much I thought, I just had to work a bit harder to get back."

"This was always going to be the start of my build up to July and I’m pretty happy to be in a comfortable position to do that."

Speaking at the pre-race Tour de Yorkshire press conference, Cavendish praised the race for some of the initiatives it has introduced this year included the two day women's race.

"It is incredible what Gary [Verity] and the team do. Its exactly what cycling needs to move forward. Its really making a festival out of the race and really showcasing what a beautiful place Yorkshire is and fortunately we’ve got some good weather as well this weekend."

Cavendish's last appearance in the county of his mother ended in despair as he crashed out of the first stage of the 2014 Tour de France, in which he joked about at the pre-race press conference.

"I don’t know the roads like the back of my hand that’s for sure. I know one part of the road in Harrogate better than most people but we aren’t going there this year."

The Team Dimension Data rider will be hoping for better fortune this time around and carry on the success of last year's overall winner and team-mate Serge Pauwels, despite not putting any figure on a successful race for himself.

"A successful race for any bike rider here is one win, a successful season is one win," Cavendish added. "I’ll just see what I can do. We’ve got a good team who can go well across all four days, but I know tomorrow into Doncaster is going to be a sprint.

"With the lay off my form is not too bad, but I’m not sure where my top end is but I’ll certainly be given it one hundred per cent."