Situated in the Irish Sea, and equidistant between the United Kingdom and Ireland, is a small country just 52 kilometres long and 22 kilometres wide.

The Isle of Man is famous for three particular features. Its national flag is an obscure image of three legs joined together at the hip, on a plain red background. The second feature is the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy, one of the world's most famous - and dangerous - motorcycle races in the world.

Put these two features together, and you get an insight into the life of Isle of Man's most famous citizen, Mark Cavendish, the world's fastest cyclist.

Cavendish first shot to prominence as a brash 20-year-old track cyclist, winning a gold medal for Great Britain in Los Angeles at the World Championships.

A year later, Australia got its first chance to experience the growing reputation of Cavendish, as he easily won two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, one of the few times he has had the chance to represent his native country.

His supreme efforts in Melbourne immediately made the cycling world sit up and take notice of his talents. The dominant German-based T-Mobile team persuaded Cavendish to switch to road cycling later in 2006. T-Mobile's plan was to nurture Cavendish to become their successor to Erik Zabel, a six-time winner of the green sprinters' jersey at the Tour de France.

T-Mobile's gamble on the brash sprinter immediately paid off, as Cavendish won a staggering 10 races in his debut season of 2007.

A further fifteen victories followed in 2008, a staggering season that was rewarded with an Olympic Games berth for Great Britain in Beijing.

But it was at the Tour de France in that 2008 season that Cavendish started to inscribe his name into pro cycling's  history books. He won four stages in his debut Tour, and all in style. Here was a confident young man, not afraid to bring his roughhouse track background to the more traditional clique of road cycling.

A few of the experienced heads in world cycling were put off by the confidence of Cavendish, others labelled him as arrogant and stubborn. But with Cavendish came a supreme talent, who challenged the close-knit family bonds as he continued to back his outspoken character with proven results.

Over the last three years, Cavendish has stamped himself as the dominant sprinter in world cycling. He has taken his total career wins to 88 stages, with 19 of them coming in the Tour de France, after once again saluting the judges overnight.

Put quite simply, if Cavendish has an open run to the finish line within the final 250 metres, nobody in the world is going to get past him.

Behind every great professional cyclist is a dominant and determined team. Cavendish's HTC-High Road team is a supreme example. They will put all nine of their riders on the front of the peloton to bring back the inevitable break away. From the final 20 kilometres onwards, it is HTC-High Road, who bullies the other teams and ultimately determines the outcome of the stage victory.

When the race enters its climax in the daunting final kilometre, Mark Renshaw, the 28-year-old from Bathurst, steps up as the world's best lead-out man, and regularly launches the man nicknamed the Manx Missile to victory. Renshaw could be a fine sprinter in his own right, but prefers to play second fiddle to the world's fastest man on two wheels.

Rumours have started to circle linking Cavendish with the British-based Team SKY outfit, with Renshaw likely to follow as the loyal lieutenant. Cavendish already has the most Tour de France stage victories from a British cyclist, and has the record of the legendary Eddy Merckx's 34 victories in his sights.

It would be a very brave man to say he won't surpass Merckx, given Cavendish rides at such an elite level that very few can try to match. The scariest thought for the other riders is the fact that at 26, he has possibly up to a further 10 tours left on the professional circuit.

This year is looming as his best chance to finally win the sprinters' jersey in Paris. Now, it almost seems inevitable.

Zabel has six green jerseys, Ireland's Sean Kelly four and Australia's Robbie McEwen three. So until Cavendish wins the green jersey, he can't be considered the greatest sprinter of all-time, but he is certainly well on his way.