Mark Cavendish claimed to be relaxed and confident in his form ahead of the start of the Giro d'Italia, but appeared frustrated when answering questions from the media on Wednesday.

There were no questions about Cavendish's Tour de France with the Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team or his plans for 2022 and beyond, but Zoom Cole looked more sore than a trip to the dentist.

Cavendish returned to the Giro d'Italia after a nine-year absence. During this time, his sprint campaign often included the Tour of California in May, and his focus was on the Tour de France in July. He won 15 stages of the Italian Grand Tour, twice winning the leaders' Maria Rosa and taking the red points jersey in his last appearance in 2013.

Cavendish will turn 37 on May 21 when the Giro climbs around Turin for stage 14, and after nearly a decade away from sprinting, the sprints still provide inspiration and motivation for Cavendish, but at the same time the Giro d'Italia sprint He is also interested to see how the Giro d'Italia sprint has changed.

"The Giro d'Italia has always been my favorite race, and after nine years, obviously the dynamic might have changed. We'll see. After a month of not moving his legs in anger, he seemed happy to be able to compete whenever he could.

"I'm pretty relaxed because I've been preparing for this race and I didn't prepare for the Tour last year.

"I think I'm in similar shape to last year. We had a good build-up and I'm pretty happy with where we're at."

Cavendish has already won three races this season, at the Tour of Oman, the UAE Tour, and Milano-Torino in March, despite a big crash at Ghent Six Day in November.

"People tend to forget that I had a puncture in my lung at the end of November, but I won early on. Of course it's tough, but I work hard. It's not easy," he stated.

Cavendish is expected to have seven sprint chances in the Giro d'Italia, with Caleb Yuan (Lotto Soudal), Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin Phoenix), Arnaud Demare (Groupama FDJ), Giacomo Nizzolo ( Israel Premier Tech), Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates), and Biniam Girmay (Intermarche Wantigover) will clash.

However, he dismissed the possibility of sprinters dominating in Visegrad on Friday. Most of the pure sprinters won't be battling it out on the first stage," he said. The Giro always has its brutal stages, and this year is no different. Cavendish's only smile came when asked about his teammates, especially leading out in the sprints. This season, Cavendish has been riding with Fabio Jacobsen, who will compete in the 2022 Tour as Quick-Step's lead sprinter, but he has also led Cavendish to victory in the UAE Tour and Milan-Torino The two are different characters, but in sprints they are the perfect They are two different characters, but in sprints they are a perfect combination.

"We have a good team and we are in good shape," Cavendish said. I love riding with Moky [Mikhail Molkov], but it's not just Moky. Bart [van Lerverghe], Valero [Davide Ballerini], Mauro Schmidt, Mauri Vansevenant, and Noxy [James Knox] are an incredibly strong team. They are a great group to ride Italy with. Both on the bike and at the table. I'm very happy with this lineup."

"It's nice to have friends you can trust. Not only Michael, but also the players in front of him. If he has players who can keep up with him, his job will be easier. That's the biggest factor in my confidence for the Giro. I have riders in front of me that I can trust."