Mark Cavendish has said that he is up for the Second Tour Of Dubai which starts on Wednesday.
Speaking at the race press conference, Cavendish said: "Dubai is an important race.
"I really enjoy it, first and foremost. The Tour de San Luis and Dubai aren't WorldTour races, but they definitely give the intensity to build up for the season.
"Etixx – Quick-Step came here with a strong team. We'll see what happens.
"The third stage is difficult with the Hatta Dam, and it has some hills, so it is a difficult stage. It's hard to find hills around here, but they've done a good job to find a route that isn't going to be a sprint. But we'll see. I know we are here to win stages.
"Etixx – Quick-Step is the team that won the most races in 2014 and we are back this year with the hopes to repeat or better the success of the previous season. I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do."
Cavendish was asked which sprinters are in the best form and he replied:"Anything can happen in a sprint, so you can't really judge the form of a sprinter on a sprint. You judge it on everything else that goes on around the race.
"It's a good group of sprinters here. John Degenkolb is here, you've got Andrea Guardini, and several others. We should see some good racing here. There's three sprint stages in Dubai. The wind may be a factor but it wasn't last year. It's really good to get the early season rolling. I don't think anyone is in the form they're going to be in July. It's just about getting training in for the sprint and working on the teams a little bit."
Picture courtesy and copyright of the Tour Of Dubai