大象传媒

I don't usually follow the , but this year it's different, and all because of Mark Cavendish.

Cav has been absolutely fantastic. He's not just been beating his rivals, he's been .

When you're a sprinter, you expect to win by half a wheel length, or a bike length at most. Cav's been winning stages by two or three bike lengths.

He wants to finish the Tour now and I hope he does. It's perfect training for him for the - to have a really hard block of training followed by a couple of weeks of taking it easy.

Do that and your body always rebounds beautifully. It's ideal timing.

I'm also a big believer in morale. If you're feeling confident, feeling good about your riding, you can surprise people with what you can do. I can't wait to see Cav team up with in the out in Beijing.

What else has been going on since my last blog?

I went down to Birmingham to pick up all my kit - you wouldn't believe how much stuff there is.

There's tracksuits, toiletries, wash-bags, cufflinks, formal shoes, suits, even a camcorder.

We've got different outfits for the opening and closing ceremonies, with the former looking a bit like an ice-cream salesman's jacket. I'm sure it will look good in a big group.

We've even got Team GB underpants, although since we've all got the same kit I might have to stick a little CHRIS HOY nametag into the waistband, as if I were five years old, so that mine don't get confused with my team-mates'.

At the moment I'm out in Germany, racing for the last time before Beijing. It'll be great to get some race sharpness into my legs.

I'm out here with my coach Jan, who also doubles as my mechanic, travel agent and all-round help. I've got the easiest job as a cyclist - all I have to worry about is the racing.

I'm starting to feel part of the overall British Olympic team now too.

I've been keeping an eye out at the selection announcements for the other sports, and I'm looking forward to seeing my mates from previous Games, like from the swimming squad and our badminton silver medallists Gail and Nathan.

Of the other events in Beijing, there are two I'm looking forward to watching the most - the weightlifting and the 100m on the track.

I have to do a lot of squats and cleans in the gym as part of my preparation, so I have a little idea of what it's like for the weightlifters, and to see these guys shifting those enormous weights around is awesome.

As for the 100m, well, it's the closest athletics event to what I do, all power and speed.

I'd love to compete in front of 80,000 or 90,000 fans but unfortunately I'm one of the worst runners in the world. In theory it seems similar to what I do, but I'm terrible - I've got the least attractive running style you'll ever see.

I did it on Superstars a few years back and almost fell over. It was that bad....