He may have been the only British cyclist not to have won a medal in Beijing, but Mark Cavendish has plenty to smile about ahead of what could be a prosperous new year's racing.

Cavendish must, of course, learn lessons from an unimpressive joint eighth place in the Olympic Madison alongside British cycling stalwart Bradley Wiggins. He and Wiggins both looked jaded in a race where they never threatened the medal positions, and produced a performance which ultimately saw their heavy 2008 schedules catch up with them. 

The 23-year-old showed petulance in the aftermath of Beijing, refusing to speak with Wiggins for weeks after the event. The Manxman also went public in his criticism of British cycling, which he believed paid little attention to the Madison in comparison with the other events in which British cyclists took part. To emphasise the blemish upon British cycling's glowing summer, Cavendish revealed, with unerring defiance, that he was unlikely to participate in track cycling again. 

His behaviour post-Beijing may have given those who jumped on the Olympic bandwagon licence to criticise him, but Cavendish has a ruthless trait that has been absent in Britain's most high-profile sportsmen and women for a long time; the belief that anything less than victory is not satisfactory.

Cycling fans who follow the sport closely, particularly on the road, realise that the Beijing failure will not hold much contextual importance when you review Cavendish's achievement in 2008. Immersed within the confines of Team Columbia's unified approach to teamwork, Cavendish built on a promising end to 2007 with outstanding performances at last year's two major races.  

At the Giro d'Italia, he won two stages and was just pipped to the line in two more, finishing a very credible fourth in the overall points classification. At road cycling's showpiece, the Tour de France, he won an unprecedented four stages in a variety of conditions ranging for pouring rain to searing heat.

Only Cavendish's want and need to prepare for the Olympics prevented the Manxman from completing the race and competing for the much celebrated green jersey. He did, however, gain points classification glory late on in 2008 with victory in the Tour of Missouri, picking up four stage wins along the way.

2009 has begun in a similar vein. Although the returning Tom Boonen won the sprint-dominated Tour of Qatar, Cavendish stormed to two stage wins (one more than Boonen), to once again prove his calibre.

There is no reason why Cavendish, who has shown the physical and mental attributes to steamroller his sprint opponents recurrently, cannot become the world's best in his field in 2009. 

His main target will be to roll into Paris sporting the green jersey, and this will certainly signify a successful year no matter what other results he manages to pick up. Given his amazing victories in last year's tour, coupled with the fact that he will not have Olympic preparations in mind, Cavendish has been predicted by peers and experts alike to fulfill his own high ambitions and expectations.  

So it may well be set in stone for the Chinese that 2009 is the Year of the Ox, but for British cycling fans 2009 could well be the Year of the Cav.