In September, he returned to the track for the first time since the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, competing at the velodrome in Ghent for the International Belgian Open. Finishing second in the scratch race and third in the madison with Owain Doull, Cavendish had not ruled out the prospect of competing in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro having earned enough points to qualify for the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics. On 18 September, Cavendish won stage four of the Tour of Britain, outsprinting Elia Viviani in Llanberis in the Snowdonia national park. He repeated the win three days later to take stage seven—again out-sprinting Italy's Elia Viviani to the finish on Guildford High Street. He also won the final stage in London the next day.