( CNN ) -- Mark Cavendish is a formidable sprint cyclist . Dubbed `` the fastest man on two wheels , '' the British rider became the UCI Road Race World Champion in 2011 and has won a total of 25 Tour de France stages , including the Champs-Elysee stage four years in a row . CNN caught up with him to discover what it takes to be one of the world 's best sprinters . In his own words : . Be competitive . Like , really competitive . `` Since I was a little kid , I was competitive with everything . It was n't good enough just to be the best that I could be -- I had to be the best of everybody , whether it was a spelling test at school , or it was in P.E . ( physical education ) or a social club . '' Embrace your differences . `` I 'm different from a lot of bike riders , but that makes me good , because there 's something different about the way I race and there is something different about my results . It 's just that I 'm so much smaller , and so much more aerodynamic and much more efficient . My legs can go at maybe 15 revs per minute quicker than the other guys , who are big and have more muscle ; for them , it 's like winding up a toy and letting it go and gaining speed whereas ... I am small and aerodynamic and can get to my top speed quicker and hold it there . Watch this : Pinarello bikes built for glory . Train your brain . `` I train my brain as much as I train my muscles . I am constantly on my iPad doing logic games , like Sudoku . It trains the part of your brain that helps you make decisions and look at the whole picture . '' Trust your team . `` In the chaos that is going on in a bunch sprint , the biggest drainer of energy comes from mental stress , and just having to concentrate and make decisions . For me , it 's about keeping up my reserves until that final few hundred meters , so if there is someone there doing those things for me it really helps me store my energy . '' Have a photographic memory . `` I can do one lap of a circuit and know where all the potholes are . I know how sharp to do a corner and how fast to go around it . I can analyze so much more of what is going on around than I think a lot of my rivals can ; I can analyze the people around me and where they are and really take it in and absorb it quick . I do n't know why I do it , or how , I just know that I can . '' Be inspired by nay-sayers . `` When I was growing up , there was a lot to prove , and I had a lot of people pushing back . I get an extra drive off someone saying I ca n't do something , you know ? I do enjoy proving people wrong . It 's not the same anymore . I believe I am amongst the greatest sprinters in the history of cycling , so there is not much more to prove there . '' Daisy Carrington contributed to this report .
Mark Cavendish is a record-breaking road race cyclist . The British sprinter says he always had to win at everything , even as a kid . Cavendish also trains his brain regularly with Sudoku puzzles . A photographic memory helps him remember `` every pothole '' in each circuit .