Mark Cavendish to make Team Sky debut in Tour of Qatar

Cavendish won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in December

Mark Cavendish will make his Team Sky debut at the Tour of Qatar on Sunday.

The 26-year-old, who won two stages of the event in 2009, is joined in the eight-man squad by former HTC-Highroad team-mate Bernhard Eisel.

Davide Appollonio, Michael Barry, Juan Antonio Flecha, Jeremy Hunt, Christian Knees and Ian Stannard are also in the squad for the six-stage race.

Cavendish has also been named in the Team Sky squad for the Tour of Oman from 14-19 February.

In December, the Manx cyclist was crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year with nearly half the public votes from the 10-man shortlist.

In 2011, Cavendish was Britain's first winner of the Tour de France green jersey - the award for the race's best sprinter - and he also became the first British male for 46 years to win the world road race.

Meanwhile, the Isle of Man's Peter Kennaugh will begin his road racing season with Sky at the Giro di Sardegna from the 21-25 February.

Keannugh will race alongside British riders Ben Swift and Geraint Thomas at the four-stage race.

The team, which was set up in 2009, now has 10 British cyclists, including Bradley Wiggins.