Mark Cavendish, the fastest man on two wheels, was out training on the street circuit made famous by the Monaco Grand Prix yesterday, secure in the knowledge that he is in pole position to win the coveted green jersey in this year’s Tour de France.

Cavendish, who starts his third Tour tomorrow, is firmly established as the most feared sprinter in road racing. However, his objectives this month are likely to go beyond sprint wins. Consistency, recognised by the points classification and signified by the green jersey, will be his goal. Cavendish, 24, who is yet to finish the three-week race, will have to demonstrate his survival skills as much as his sprinting.

The rider from the Isle of Man will be forced to battle through the mountain stages in the Pyrenees and Alps, and perform well in the time-trial stages, if he is to become the first rider from the British Isles since Sean Kelly, of Ireland, in 1989, to earn the green jersey.

His latest success, secured just around the headland from the Monaco hotel that Cavendish and his group, Team Columbia, are staying in, came on the Via Roma in San Remo in March, when he won the Milan-San Remo, the coveted one-day race.

That success, claimed after nearly 300 kilometres of racing, included a series of steep climbs and his growing ability as a competent climber has fuelled the belief that Cavendish is capable of much more than simply sprinting faster than his peers.

However, to claim the points classification prize in Paris on July 26, “Cav”, as he is universally known, will have to show that he can pace himself through the mountains, survive the days of bad hotels, bad food and bad luck and still have the physical resilience to hold off his rivals on all territories.

In some ways, success in the points classification can prove more demanding than the higher-profile race for the yellow jersey. It is possible to win the Tour by being the best climbing specialist, or the best timetriallist, but victory in the points classification demands consistency in all disciplines and requires a fight to the line on every stage.

“It’s a common misconception that sprinting is the easiest part of cycling,” Cavendish said. “Maybe I’m biased, but I think sprinting is the hardest part.

“Every day sprinters have to give it full gas, but on a flat day a climber can sit in the peloton and take it easy. Every flat day, rolling day and mountain day, the sprinters have to be ready to give full gas — just to get through. You have to work harder.”

Unlike in July last year, when he infamously quit the Tour mid-race to prepare for the track racing events at the Beijing Olympic Games, making it to the Champs Élysées in Paris this year is his “big goal”. This spring, Cavendish was confident enough to suggest that the green jersey should come “pretty naturally”. Certainly the opening week’s run of flat stages, which wend their way along the Mediterranean from Monaco to Barcelona, should suit his sprinting prowess.

Once the flat roads of the Midi and the Costas are left behind, the battle for survival in the green jersey classification will begin in earnest, when the Tour heads into the Pyrenees for the first mountain summit finish in Andorra.

Cavendish will have rivals in the sprint finishes, but such is his swagger at the moment that few would bet against a further quartet of stage wins, before the Tour’s final daunting week in the Alps.

“I think this year’s Tour overall looks harder, but in terms of bunch sprints there are more opportunities for me,” he said.

There are caveats, however. Bob Stapleton, the Briton’s team manager, still wonders if Cavendish will be strong enough to challenge for the maillot vert, perceived after the yellow jersey and King of the Mountains polka dot jersey as the most coveted garment in the Tour peloton.

“Will Cav have the endurance and durability?” Stapleton said. “The guys who win the green jersey pick up points everywhere they can. It might be better for him to try and win stages and take another year to develop.”

By the end of next week, the American may have his answer.