Mark Cavendish will forgo next week's Bahrain McLaren training camp to compete in the Track Cycling Challenge in Switzerland. Mark Cavendish is aiming to qualify for next summer's Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, and will participate in both the scratch race and Madison at the event next week.

Cavendish attended the launch of his new team at McLaren's technology center in Woking earlier this week and told Cycling News that he is "excited and full of confidence" for the 2020 season.

Cavendish, who competed in Six Day track races in London and Ghent during the off-season, won gold in the scratch race at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and is a three-time world champion in Madison. won four stages in the Tour de France.

Qualifying is likely to be tougher for Cavendish this time around, with British Cycling head coach Ian Dyer saying last week that a national team spot is at a premium and, given his previous achievements, he needs 250 points to qualify He said.

"The door is open, but it's very difficult to get a chance to compete at this point," Dyer told PA News. You need 250 points [to qualify] and you have to do the events that count in the cycle, like the World Cup and the World Championships. The opportunities are coming up.

Cavendish's participation in Switzerland, where he will compete in Madison with Alfie George under the AR Cycling banner, could be the beginning of his challenge to qualify for Tokyo. His future race plans on the track have not yet been announced.

After this week's Brisbane event, only one UCI Track World Cup event remains, in Milton, Canada, in late January, while the UCI Track World Championships will be held in Berlin, Germany, from February 26 to March 1.