Mark Cavendish will return to the track this weekend in a bid to qualify for the forthcoming UCI Track Cycling World Cup series.

Cavendish has been training at the Manchester velodrome this week and will ride the scratch race at the International Belgium Open in Ghent, while the Manx Missile will also join forces with Owain Doull in the madison.

The Omega Pharma-QuickStep sprinter has not ridden on the boards for Great Britain since the 2009 World Championships but the 28-year-old raised the possibility of fighting for a spot in the team pursuit squad at the 2016 Olympic Games after watching Team GB’s success in London.

And with new UCI rules requiring riders to pre-qualify for the World Cup series, and consequently the World Championships and Olympic Games, Cavendish is riding the International Belgian Open, which carries qualifying points, in order to leave his options open this winter.

“We had a conversation about the potential of him having a play on the track this winter,” said British Cycling’s endurance coach Paul Manning.

“The UCI are making us pre-qualify for World Cups, both the individuals that race and some of the events. Ghent is the last one before the cut-off date for him to be eligible so by necessity he is going to go and race his bike.”

Cavendish found success on the track early in his career, winning madison gold with Rob Hayles in 2005 and Bradley Wiggins in 2008, but an Olympic title has eluded the Manxman, who finished ninth with Wiggins in the same event at the Beijing Games before crossing the line 29th four years later in the road race.

But Manning believes it is too early to speculate whether Cavendish will bid to add a golden line to his palmares on the track in Rio.

“Until we know more about Rio, the events on the track and the nature of the road course why would he narrow his options?” said Manning, who won team pursuit gold with Wiggins, Geraint Thomas and Ed Clancy in Beijing.

“We’ve created this little opportunity to get him on the boards and from that we’ll determine and have a look at diaries and what his and his team plans are.”

Good velodrome sessions the last few days at Manchester. Has evolution progressed so much though in 10 years?The under23 riders dwarf me!

— Mark Cavendish (@MarkCavendish) September 4, 2013