Cavendish's start to the season has been delayed by dental work but now the sprinter is raring to go.
"He's ready to go and keen to race" HTC-Columbia's sports director Brian Holm says. "In Andalucia we'll be supporting Mark 100 percent for whatever sprints come up, and then we've got Mick [Michael Rogers] and Maxime [Monfort] for the [stage four] time-trial and the overall. Together with the mountain-top finish on the first day, that time-trial will probably decide the race. However it's a very tough Tour of Andalusia this year, with a lot of climbing for so early in the season, and a break could go at any time."
Holm says former World Time Trial Champion Rogers has built up strong form for the early season races. "He's been training hard and is feeling confident, and I think Maxime's on top of his game right now, too. Our only concern was with Kosta [Konstantsin Siutsou] because he's had a knee injury, but he's got over that and is ready to go. All in all, we've got a good line-up here."
HTC-Columbia for the Tour of Andalucia: Michael Albasini (Swi); Mark Cavendish (GB); Tony Martin (Ger); Maxime Monfort (Bel); Michael Rogers (Aus); Hayden Roulston (NZ); Konstantsin Siutsou (Byl).