The 23-year-old from the Isle of Man entered the Beijing Games as madison world champion alongside Bradley Wiggins but they finished a lowly ninth.

 

That was mainly due to Wiggins being tired having earlier won two gold medals in the Games and Cavendish not as sharp as expected following four stage victories in the Tour de France which established him as one of the biggest young stars in the sport.

Cavendish said: "There's a lot of people that didn't win a medal.

 

"It's what I sacrificed to go there that hurt the most.

 

"For me the Olympics is not even in the top 10 of what you can achieve.

 

"It is quite important as a British person, not necessarily as a cyclist."

 

His comments are made on an episode of Inside Sport to be broadcast on BBC1 tonight at 10.45pm.

 

Cavendish's triumph in this year's Milan-San Remo Classic in March confirmed his standing as road racing's quickest sprinter and this summer he will be among the favourites for the Tour de France's fabled green jersey, which is awarded to the points or sprint champion.

 

As well as his eight victories in 2009, Cavendish also clinched the overall sprint victory in the Tour of California.

 

He said: "This year already I've won six or seven races – if you asked a cycling enthusiast, they would say it overshadows what the Olympics is for an endurance rider.

 

"But you ask the average member of the public in Britain and they'll look at you like you're mad."

 

Following the Games in Beijing Cavendish vowed his track days, which yielded World Championship madison titles in 2005 and 2008, were "finished".

 

But he is set to seek madison gold in London 2012 alongside Peter Kennaugh.