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Cavendish raced in the Milan-San Remo classic a fortnight before the birth of daughter Delilah. Photo: Getty Images

"It doesn't matter what I have achieved or could achieve in future on the bike," he told me recently. "I'm going to be a dad, and when April comes nothing is going to be quite as important as that.

"Everything is prepared, the nursery's done, she's got enough clothes for a few months.

"She's kicking. We know she's a person, and it just warms you. I want to hold her, cuddle her - something that's me, that I've made. It's a feeling that nothing else in life ever comes close to."

Delilah's name was kept a closely guarded secret, even from family members. As Cavendish explained, someone always knows an idiot (he chose a stronger word) with the same name that you picked, so why share it till you have to?

If the name was an easy enough dilemma to resolve, it's fair to say Cavendish has yet to turn his attention to all the longer-term consequences of parenthood. The nervous grin and widening of the eyes when we mentioned things like choosing schools, setting aside money for university fees and so on, told its own story.

"I don't want to think about it," he squirmed, scratching his neck awkwardly. "I'll just deal with her up to being a teenager. Once she turns teenage, it's a different matter."

But Mark, you're going to have to have 'the chat' about boys and all that...

"No, don't. Don't. We're not going to talk about this. I'll just deal with my little baby girl and that'll be it.

"She's like her mum, she's got long legs. It'll be like Russian dolls - a big one and a little one. I'm really happy."

Cavendish and Todd seem like they will make fun, lively and loving parents from their constant conversations and asides on Twitter. There you will find regular glimpses of daily life in the Cavendish household.

But professional road cycling will not allow expectant fathers to linger around the home, popping along to parenthood classes and leafing lazily through catalogues while waiting for the paint in the nursery to dry. Cavendish has been out earning a crust, touring the Middle East and Europe with Team Sky.

For much of the year, contact with heavily pregnant Peta has been via a laptop screen. The same will have to happen for vast chunks of the summer to come. And for her part Todd has become a cycling expert, propped up in front of live coverage on TV.

"She's good, isn't she," said Cavendish. "I've seen her commentating on races on Twitter, she knows her stuff now. I'm impressed of her and proud of her with that.

"We spend a lot of time on Facetime and Skype, and that's kind-of good, it keeps you in your room and relaxed. Rod Ellingworth [Cavendish's coach at Team Sky and his mentor for many years] has always said to me that my most important thing is a good home life.

"I haven't been chilled for the last couple of years - certainly before the last year - but now, finally, everything is settled and going good. I'd rather be at home but I've got a job to do and if I can sit with my family on a screen and kind-of interact, I'm as relaxed as I can be.

"But it's hard. It's incredible how, naturally, something in your mind changes. I think any dad can appreciate what I'm saying. Evolution changes you. Even now, every single decision I make is not about myself any more. Consciously and subconsciously, there's always the future of my family involved in it. Everything I do affects the future of my baby girl."

Dad could be an Olympic champion by the end of July, although that will be the last thing in his mind for a while to come. At least he'll have one more fan by the roadside - Locog need to make room on Box Hill.

"She already gets excited," said Cavendish of Delilah. "When I'm racing, she's kicking. She'll be there at this year's Tour, and at the Olympic Games. That'll be a nice way to start a life."