Much has been made of Cavendish's impending switch to Sky, which will see the reigning Tour sprint king in the same team as Wiggins - who has become accustomed to being the focal point of the team's attack on the general classification each year.

The pair were believed to have a frosty relationship - with Cavendish refusing to speak to his compatriot for a period after the Beijing Olympics, angry at Wiggins who he felt cost him a medal in the two-man Madison event - but Cavendish is now looking forward to a successful partnership, especially after they worked together so effectively at the World Championships in September to propel the Manx rider to road race gold.

"I was the only one who came home without a medal (in 2008), but me and Brad ... we're like brothers," Cavendish told The Mirror. "Sometimes brothers don't talk to each other for a while, they might have a tiff.

"But we're probably closer than ever now because we'll be pushing each other to get results next year for Team Sky on the Tour de France, or Team GB at the Olympics."

Critics have wondered how Team Sky will balance Cavendish's sprint ambitions with Wiggins' general classification hopes but the Manx rider has no fears, adding: "I don't think it's too greedy to aim for Brad being on the podium in Paris in the same race as me winning another Green Jersey. T-Mobile did it in the nineties, and on paper Team Sky are stronger."

Victory at the World Championships in Copenhagen saw the 26-year-old become the first British rider since Tom Simpson in 1965 to claim the fabled rainbow jersey, after being led heroically by Wiggins and David Millar - among others - before unleashing a customary sprint finish.

He believes the manner of the victory was as impressive as the final result, and is certain Team GB have put down a real marker ahead of London 2012.

"It was a three-year plan. We had the best bunch of British riders there has ever been. And the eight guys rode incredibly. We controlled the world champs from start to finish in a way no one had ever seen before," he said.

"Sometimes I ask why it's an individual award. If I could take these bands (on the rainbow jersey) and give the other lads one each I would. It's how it is. But for a British rider, after 46 years, it is an incredible thing.

"We showed the world we can control the championships; not just win, but control how the whole race panned out. That's quite a dominating thing to have. Psychologically, the other teams now know the rules."

Cycling Australia is pleased to confirm the riders selected to contest the opening round of the UCI Track World Cup Series being staged in Astana, Kazakhstan from 4 to 6 November.

"The World Cup Series provides an opportunity for us to identify and prepare athletes for the London Olympic Games," said Cycling Australia's National Performance Director, Kevin Tabotta. "But we need to be prudent in our approach so that we not only qualify the maximum places for the Games but we ensure we put our athletes in the best possible position to win medals in London.

"That means riders might not contest all their specialty events at a World Cup round they attend."

The series includes rounds in Colombia (1-3 December) and China (20-22 January) with the fourth and final round being staged at the London Olympic Games velodrome from 17 to 19 February. The final round is also the official London Prepares track cycling test event.

After the World Cup Series the world's greatest will head to Melbourne to contest the 2012 UCI Track World Championships with the Australian Cyclones hoping for a full house of supporters when they take on the world at home.

"We're excited to be heading into this final phase on the road to London but the focus of everyone involved in the track program, from cyclists to coaches and support staff, is to concentrate on the process and details to make sure we leave nothing to chance."

The Australian and Jayco-AIS teams for the Astana World Cup round are listed below:

Australian Team

• Ashlee ANKUDINOFF (Menai NSW, 20.08.1990)

• Katherine BATES (Northmead, NSW, 18.05.1982)

• Amy CURE (Penguin, TAS 31.12.1992)

• Sarah KENT (Duncraig WA, 10.02.1990)

• Kaarle MCCULLOCH (Gymea Bay, NSW 20.01.1988)

• Anna MEARES (West Richmond, SA [formerly QLD] 21.09.1983)

• Edward BISSAKER (Forrest ACT, 23.07.1992)

• Alexander EDMONDSON (Stirling, SA 22.12.1993)

• Michael FREIBERG (Dianella, WA 10.10.1990)

• Mitchell MULHERN (Hendra, QLD 22.01.1991)

• Glenn O'SHEA (Ridleyton, SA [formerly VIC] 14.06.1989)

Team Jayco -AIS

• Matthew GLAETZER (Adelaide SA, 24.08.1992)

• Shane PERKINS (Clayton South, VIC 31.12.1986)

• Scott SUNDERLAND (Hillarys WA 16.03.1988)

Eight-time world champion Anna Meares says next year's track cycling world titles in Melbourne hold special significance ahead of the London Olympics.

The world championships will be held from April 4 to 8 and are the final qualification opportunity ahead of the Games, with 350 competitors from 40 countries entered.

Meares and 2011 keirin world champion Shane Perkins today launched the ticket program, riding bikes on rollers on the glass platform at Eureka Skydeck, almost 300 metres above the ground.

Meares said she sees the championships as the opportunity to get a mental and physical edge over her rivals, notably arch foe Britain's Victoria Pendleton.

"It's not just the psychological advantage but it's that self-confidence, that team morale that we need to keep the team rolling through to the London Games," Meares said.

"The London Olympics are going to be really difficult because the British are on their home turf, they're formidable opponents."

Meares said world championship success had historically translated into Olympic gold medals.

At the Beijing Olympics, seven of the 10 gold medals were won by world champions.

"The 2008 world championships, pre the Beijing Olympics, was held in Manchester and we saw the British team dominate at both; the pre-Athens world championships was held here in Melbourne, and we saw the Australian cycling team dominate at those Olympics.

"What we're hoping is to get that momentum because it's going to be key for us, given the challenge we face against a very strong British team on their home turf."

Meares won three world titles this March in Appeldoorn in the Netherlands, which was dominated by the Australian team.

She can add a fourth in Melbourne.

Meares decided not to contest the 500m time trial this year as it preceded her Olympic events, however next year, it has been scheduled last.

She and Pendleton are the only two female cyclists to have won three titles at a world championships.

The 28-year-old will go into the London Olympics - her third - finally carrying the tag of favourite.

She was only a rookie when she claimed gold in Athens in the time trial (since abandoned as an Olympic event) and then fought back to recover from a broken neck and dislocated shoulder to win silver behind Pendleton in the sprint in 2008 in Beijing.

"I'm so excited the world titles are in Melbourne because, before my first Olympics, when I was only 20, Melbourne held the world titles and that was where I won my first world title so it's a great memory."

So the road season for 2011 is coming to a close and as a positive season wraps up for another year I am left to ponder all the final few months of training and racing.

As previously stated I had plans to go to Australian National University Games at the Gold Coast and it was a great week or racing and relaxing. I was representing Charles Sturt University and had two other team mates with me. 

The week consisted of a 90km road race, a pairs time trial and a 1hour criterion. The road race shaped up to be a hard day in the wind and rain. Early on the brake went and due to the wind the field on 60 split early. After battling away I managed to get 15th with Blair battling for fourth.

In the pair time trial Blair and I struggled out of bed for a 6am start on the main streets of the Gold Coast. The length was 30km and we missed a medal by 40seconds. We got 4th on the morning however with the form and late night we were pretty happy to just wake up.

The crit saw a very quick pace early on and many in the field dropped out before the first half. My legs were going along OK however I managed to miss the brake again, however Blair Windsor was in the top three. After an hour Blair sprinted and grabbed a silver medal.

Considering the lack of representatives for our university we were very happy to come away with a few top ten finishes and a medal.

Over the next few months I will be getting ready for the bay crits in Geelong and the results will be posted shortly after

Zach Baker   

Team Sky have bolstered their squad for the 2012 season with the signing of experienced American Danny Pate on a two-year contract.

The 32-year-old will join the team from HTC-Highroad and is widely regarded as one of the hardest-working riders in the peloton.

Pate turned professional in 2000 and marked himself out as a star of the future by winning the World Under-23 Time Trial Championship in 2001. Instead of making the immediate switch to Europe though, Pate chose to concentrate on the American scene before finally making the trip over the Atlantic with Jonathan Vaughters’ TIAA-CREF team in 2006.

That season Pate won the time trial at the Tour de Beauce and also claimed top-10 finishes at both the Tour de Limousin and Tour de l'Ain. In the years that followed, Pate sacrificed his own chances of success to become one of the newly-named Garmin team’s key domestiques and rode back-to-back Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in both 2008 and 2009. That brought with it a team time trial success in Italy and also saw him bag podium places on two further occasions.

Another solid season was to follow in 2010 before the Coloradoan made the move to HTC-Highroad in 2011. Pate immediately settled in and became one of Mark Cavendish’s main lead-out men as the Manxman become the first British rider ever to win the green jersey at the Tour de France.

Danny Pate, said:

“I was fortunate to have a number of offers from teams for next season. After riding with HTC-Highroad, I wanted to stay at the highest level in cycling and be part of the most professional team in the peloton. That is why I have chosen Team Sky and I am delighted to be joining one of the best-structured teams ever in cycling.

“Team Sky has a fantastic back room staff, some highly talented riders and a shared motivation to be the best. I know it’s a team that I am going to do well with and I am very proud to be joining this ambitious and exciting project.  For the team my work as a domestique will remain my main focus and on a personal level I will be looking to target the World Championship TTT in 2012.”

Team Sky Principal, Dave Brailsford, said:

“Danny is a hugely experienced rider with a fantastic pedigree. As well as being one of the peloton’s strongest riders he is also a world-class time triallist and has shown again this year that he is one of the sport’s most talented riders.

“Throughout this season Danny has shown the calibre of bike rider he is with his performances for HTC-Highroad. We’ve seen him chasing down breakaways week in, week out and have been really impressed with the way he goes about his business. He’s capable of being on the front of the peloton for long periods, day after day, and that’s testament to the way he looks after himself both on and off the bike.

“His experience was also a major attraction for us and we will be looking to him to impart some of that on the younger guys in the team.”

Córdoba, Spain

Vuelta a España, Stage 6: Kohler Most Aggressive

Martin Kohler of the BMC Racing Team earned the Vuelta a España's most aggressive rider honors Thursday while teammate Mathias Frank survived a crash and Johann Tschopp withdrew due to fatigue.

Kohler: 'Won't Be The Last Time'

Kohler was part of a four-man breakaway that gained as much as an eight-minute lead. With the gap to the chasing pack down to a minute and only 31 kilometers left in the 193.4 km race, Kohler ventured off alone. He was caught five kilometers later. "I was trying the whole day to make the breakaway," he said. "Unfortunately, we were only four riders and not the strongest ones from the peloton. But it's a three-week race and there are more days to come. So it won't be the last time I'm in the breakaway." Frank crashed after 70 kilometers when an official motorbike couldn't make a sharp right turn. "I went down on my hip and elbow and it hurt pretty bad at the beginning, but as I kept riding, it got better," Frank said. Peter Sagan led a 1-3-4-5 finish for Liquigas-Cannondale while Sylvain Chavanel (Quickstep) kept the overall lead.

23-Aug-2011 :  Today an extraordinary Sylvain Chavanel is wearing the red jersey as the leader in the Vuelta at the arrival placed more than 2100 metres above sea level on Sierra Nevada.

The champion from Quick-Step Cycling Team completed a masterpiece of tactics and determination, managing to dole out some left over energy after his fantastic performance in yesterday’s stage, maintaining a 43” advantage in the general classification over the second place rider, Daniel Moreno, who won today’s stage.

“I came to this Vuelta highly motivated,” explained an exhausted but radiant Chavanel after the arrival. “I think I proved that both today and yesterday. Today along the climb to Sierra Nevada I saw that Lastras didn’t have a great pedal push. I knew that if I could make it past the first part of the climb I could be the leader. I counted the kilometres to go to the top, I couldn’t let a chance like that get away. For me it’s a great feeling. In 2008 I’d already worn this jersey, but this year after the bad luck I had in the Tour it has a different meaning. I’m going to try to defend it and honour it, like I always have. Tomorrow there are going to be some difficult passages but I’m going to give it my all. I had a tough Tour de France but luckily I have the capacity to turn the page quickly. I know I can have a good end of the season and even make it to the World Championships in great shape. First though, there’s the Vuelta and a jersey to honour in the best way possible.”

The team’s great day was completed by Seeldraeyers’ 10th place in the general classification, 1’04” from his team mate Chavanel.

“We’ve gotten off to a great start at the Vuelta” Seeldraeyers says. “Today my legs weren’t bad at all. I’m happy to be in the top 10, even though the road to Madrid is still long and hard. However, I’m going to try to defend this position in these next days, I’m in good shape and there will be lots of climbs in the next stages.”

General classification after stage 4

1 Sylvain Chavanel (FRA)

2 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) 43’’

3 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) 49’’?

4 Maxime Monfort (Bel) 49’’

5 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) 53’’

10 Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel)