Nor was the role of first GB big shot off the rank likely to relax him as he faced his 152-mile ride through town and country. He tends to win these battles against anxiety. But there was a bigger obstacle this time: an early breakaway that set the pattern for almost six hours of frantic pedaling and outfoxed Britain's normally clever strategists. Vinokurov, an unpopular winner in many quarters, served a two year ban after testing positive for blood doping at the 2007 Tour de France. The bust came after he had won stages 13 and 15. Remorse is said to not feature highly in his vocabulary.
There are no pre-ordained triumphs at the Olympics. Cavendish is the world road race champion and has won two world track championship golds in the Madison. But his Olympic career has yet to take off. He left the Beijing Games without a medal but prospered on the road, where L'Equipe, of all people, have voted him the best Tour de France sprinter of all time. He is the most successful sprinter in Tour history, with 23 wins.
Firing him over the line in front was, said Dave Brailsford, the head of GB cycling, "plan A and the rest of the alphabet." But the other nations in this race were in no mood to allow that, especially after Team Sky's win in the Tour.
"The strongest GB Olympic road team ever, and perhaps the strongest that has ever been fielded in the Olympics," is how Wiggins described the team who set off through one of the most affluent parts of England, into Fulham, over Putney Bridge, across Richmond Park and then through commuter land, beyond the M25 to Surrey towns and villages.
The British have displayed their love of cycling many times since the Tour de France went international, and the velodrome became one of the temples of sport in this country, but this was their chance to express the kind of love you see on the roads of France and Belgium.
Around this time of year, much of Surrey is to be found around the Dordogne, but this time the county stayed behind to recreate the Tour on Box Hill. Banks of enthralled spectators watched the British team fall six minutes behind the breakaway before the relentless confidence and industry of Wiggins, Ian Stannard, Chris Froome and road captain David Millar began to chop chunks off the deficit to keep the masterplan alive.
This was a meticulously planned operation, conceived not months but years ago. Yet the Wiggins victory in the Tour de France turned the screw on this five-man Olympic team. It turned hope into a sense of entitlement among their fans. On day one of the main Games, Cavendish would tick this target off. The Mall was sure it would rejoice again in Jubilee year.
It was a route more reminiscent of a vintage car rally, but with a heck of a lot more tension. Five is too few riders to be able to control such a sprawling field and the absence of radios stemmed the flow of information between coaches and riders. Brailsford and his assistants positioned spotters around the course. Undeniably, though, there was far more onus on the riders to make the right decisions without the full strategic picture.
Invincible in the hills and vales of France, Wiggins sacrificed himself to help Cavendish ascend to an Olympic podium already occupied by a generation of greats: Wiggins and Sir Chris Hoy among them. In doing so he may have jeopardised his chances of winning Wednesday's time trial at Hampton Court. He emptied himself for no reward.
Britain were wiped out. Now it falls to the women, in today's road race, and the strong track team to make amends. About the strongest charge you might direct at them is one of over-confidence. Along the lanes of Surrey, on their practice laps, they looked and felt invincible. On a flat course they probably would have been. At least the organizers cannot be accused of doctoring the course at assist the British cause.
There are lots more medal winning opportunities to come, starting today on track and road. Back on the bike, everybody.
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