ALEX Dowsett has two jobs at the Tour of Britain.

Not only will he be an integral part of the Movistar team targeting stage success and general classification glory he will also be acting as team translator.

Riding on a Spanish squad brings its own problems for the British time trial star.

He spends huge amounts of time away from his Essex home and as such is relishing next week’s race which includes Monday’s second stage starting in Clitheroe and ending in Colne.

That East Lancashire effort will represent a difficult day for the 26-year-old who excels on the flat roads.

But, as well as his efforts on the road, he will also need to be at his best in the team hotel as he helps his team-mates out off the bike.

And he admits he has some work to do based on last year’s performance.

“We had a fantastic story from last year were my team-mate Giovanni Visconti ordered an omelette with ham but he ordered it in Spanglish,” said Dowsett.

“He ended up saying to the lady ham in Spanish which is Jamon so he got an omelette with strawberry jam all over it.

“He ended up eating it as well and said it wasn’t as terrible as he expected. That was almost the highlight of my Tour of Britain last year.”

If Dowsett has work to do with his language skills he can look fondly back at the 2014 edition on the road where he wore the leaders’ yellow jersey and came desperately close to overall victory before eventually finishing eighth.

The former Team Sky rider knows it will be difficult to replicate that feat this year given that he comes into the event on the back of an injury which forced him out of the Tour de France and the absence of an individual time trial in which he specialises.

“I am pretty gutted there is no TT,” said Dowsett, who is the current British champion in the discipline.

“I just think while this year we have the Olympic and World champion (Sir Bradley Wiggins) of all the years that there should be a TT it should be this year.

“That said the Tour of Britain is always unpredictable because of the six man teams.

“The parcours is always hard but not too hard. You have to be able to attack and race the race rather than just sitting back and waiting for it to come to you. Movistar is always very good at that and we will be fighting hard.”

With a tricky opening day in Wales tomorrow to kick things off Dowsett admits he has already eyed the profile of the second stage in East Lancashire which promises to be a fascinating day’s racing.

“I train up there quite a bit so I know it is going to be a hard day,” said Dowsett.

“With the nature of the Tour of Britain, you saw last year there were six changes of the lead.

“For me personally I lost over two minutes on the Tumble in Wales and normally in a race that would be game over but I managed to ride myself back into yellow.

“We are going in with a strong team and an attacking team but anyone of us I think could end up with the jersey. We will have a rough plan but I think you can’t go into the Tour of Britain with a set plan.”

Dowsett sustained a nasty injury in the early stages of this year’s Tour de France and despite valiantly riding on in support of Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde he eventually called it a day on stage 12.

“It took a little while to come round from the Tour de France,” admitted the former hour record holder.

“In the last few weeks I gained some good traction and consistency from my training. I had a positive week in France racing the week just gone so I think I should be in good shape.”

So having had some enforced time off the bike as a result of his crash what does Dowsett do to relax?

“I try to switch off but it’s difficult because cycling is consuming,” he said.

“My dad used to race cars at quite at a high level so I have got petrol running through my veins. I go go-karting a fair bit.”

So when he’s not racing the bike racer still likes to race.

“Yes, but I try and be reasonably normal and spend time with my mates and time with my girlfriend,” he added.

For a man who has enjoyed so much success in his career – he is a four time British time trial champion, has won a stage of the Giro D’Italia and took overall victory in this year’s Bayern-Rundfahrt, Dowsett admits it was his hour record which takes pride of place in his palmares.

Despite being usurped by Wiggins after just a few months it is a dream Dowsett has not yet given up on.

When asked if he would have another go at the record his response was defiant.

“At some point in the future I would like to. I love it,” he said, “The hour record is what I feel like I was put on this planet to do so I am excited to have another crack at it.”

For now though it is the rolling roads of East Lancashire and the rest of Britain that is his focus rather than endless laps of a velodrome, And the sense of anticipation, with the race only 24 hours away, is growing.

“It is always an amazing event,” said Dowsett.

“I enjoy racing the Tour of Britain. I don’t actually get many opportunities to race in front of a home crowd. It is only really the Tour of Britain and National Championships.

“My team-mates always enjoy it, more then I think they expect to.”

And if Dowsett’s colleagues can enjoy it while having to eat jam omelettes then this year they really could be set to serve up some success.

Alex Dowsett is supporting the launch of Aviva’s My First Bike campaign, which gives local families in eight locations along the 2015 Aviva Tour of Britain route the chance to win a brand new children’s bike. For the chance to win, visit @AvivaUK on Twitter.