20 June 2012 Last updated at 19:00 ET By Bill Wilson Business reporter, BBC News

World champion cyclist Mark Cavendish - who justifiably describes himself as "the fastest man on two wheels'"- has a strenuous summer ahead of him.

The 27-year-old defends the green jersey he won in the 2011 Tour de France, while also looking to win gold in the London 2012 cycling road race.

Before competing in the Olympics, he will have cycled some 3,500km (2,175 miles) in the Tour de France, which gets under way in Belgium on 30 June.

The Manxman is a winner of 20 stages in the last four Tours.

Six days after the end of the 99th staging of the Tour, he will then line up in London on 28 July for the Olympic road race, the climax of which ends in the Mall.

"It is not easy but it is possible," says the sprint specialist, speaking at a Sport Industry Group event in London.

"I am doing both for different reasons.

"There are some guys missing out the Tour de France to concentrate on the Olympics.

"But the Tour de France is the biggest cycling race in the world, commercially. For any sponsor putting money into cycling, the race is a big factor in any deal."

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Cavendish sprints for cycling success