Tour de France 2012: Mark Cavendish says Team Sky have the 'horsepower' to win green and yellow jerseys

The green and yellow jerseys at the Tour have only ever been won once before by the same team - Telekom in 1997 when Erik Zabel took the points competition and Jan Ullrich won the GC. On that occasion the team rode primarily for Ullrich and Zabel contested some of the sprints as a 'lone wolf' although on quiet days when Ullrich was safe in the peloton they switched attention to supporting Zabel.

The devil is always in the detail in a Tour de France route and Sky will start scouting the 21 stages almost immediately but what they know already is that with 96km of time-trialling and less pure high mountain days (there are four) than normal it is well suited to Wiggins and indeed Chris Froome who finished second in the Vuelta last month.

Not that the really big mountain days hold any fears for either these days while both also went well in some of the very steep finishes in Spain with a couple of similar stages also planned on the Tour.

What is less certain - and often doesn't become clear until near the race itself - is how many of the 'flatter' stages are for the pure sprinters and how many of the finishes will be designed for the likes of Philippe Gilbert and other strong 'Classics' riders. Cavendish has nonetheless been installed as 4-7 on favourite to retain his green jersey with Wiggins already a 10-1 shot for the yellow.

"Winning the two jerseys is a challenge for a lot of teams and teams have done it in the past," insists Cavendish. "We've got the horsepower to do it, so we're going to try and get green and yellow. There are 96 kilometres of time trialling over three weeks, but there are some steep climbs. Brad will have to be on super, super form, which he will be at the Tour de France.

"Me and Brad speak every day. If there were problems between us then at least one of us wouldn't be at Sky next year," added Cavendish, whose current team HTC-Highroad will fold at year's end. "I've joined Sky because I think they can perform well. Brad's at Sky because he thinks they can perform well. Sky have ambition, so what's the problem? Teams have done it before."

What is also quite clear is that Cavendish doesn't intend to compromise his Tour de France campaign by worrying over much about the Olympic Road Race which will take place just six days after the final stage of the Tour on the Champs Elysees.

Although not absolutely ideal it will be the same for the majority of contenders and with nine circuits of Box Hill, with its two short but sharpish climbs, to ride rather than the two in the Test event this August, Cavendish is in any case going to need the supreme fitness and endurance that only completing the Tour can bring.

"I'm going to Paris. I think most of the guys who are favourites for the Olympics will be riding the Tour de France anyway, so it shouldn't put me in a bad position. I have to finish the Tour de France if I want to win on the Champs-Elysees. Then it's six days to the Olympics. It is how it is, so I'll try and go my best for four weeks."

Team Sky Principal Dave Brailsford's initial reaction to the route was also one of excitement but he and his backroom team are going to do their homework fully before giving their considered verdict.

“Having 90km of time trialling as well as the prologue is more than there has been in recent years and in theory this should favour our riders. We’ll now take this information away, really analyse it and work on the team’s gameplan in the coming months before sitting down with riders to identify key goals and take it from there."