Cavendish grabs limelight in Doha Tuesday, 07 February 2012 23:33

Mark Cavendish (third left) of Team Sky sprints with Tom Boonen (in gold) of Omega-Pharma Quick-Step during the sprint finish in the third stage of the Tour of Qatar between Dukhan and Al Gharafa Stadium, in Doha, yesterday.

DOHA: British rider Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) yesterday won the third stage of Tour of Qatar where former champion Tom Boonen of Belgium retained the leader’s jersey.

Cavendish won the wind-swept 146.5km third stage with a time of 3 hours 23 minutes and 48 seconds.

Omega-Pharma Quick Step rider Tom Boonen finished behind Cavendish after a desperate attempt to beat the sprint king. Aidis Kruopis (GreenEdge) finished third.

It was Cavendish’s first win for Team Sky.

Despite finding himself chased by Aidis Kruiopis near the finish line under grey skies, Cavendish weaved his way into position and proved too quick for Boonen, finishing a bike length clear, with Kruiopis in third and Mark Renshaw fourth.

However, the second-place finish helped Boonen to increase his lead over American rider Tyler Farrar in the General Classification. Boonen, who won his 19th stage in Qatar on Sunday, has a lead of 6 seconds over American rider Tyler Farrar.

“I am really very happy. We did a lot better than we planned,” Cavendish said.

“I am still not 100 percent but I want to ride well for the team. Today it all came down to the sprint. My team did well though as the wind picked up today.

“I left it late in the final sprint but it came off well at the finish. I really am very happy. Its incredibly delightful to do this (win the stage) without the jersey. Hopefully we can continue this tomorrow.

“I think the weather has changed a bit today.”

Cavendish explained: “We didn’t expect it to split up but I was looked after by the lads and we didn’t need to ride on the front. I had Eisel and Flecha with me in the final section but I was boxed in and had to swing out. I wanted to leave it as late as possible because of the headwind at the finish so I waited and waited. It’s incredible to win with this jersey. I said that I wanted to do the jersey proud and you never really feel the season has started until you get a win. Now I feel I can go on a roll.”

Boonen said: “I think I took off a little bit late at the finish but we still have three stages to go. For anybody interested in winning the golden jerysey, he has to finish in the top three everyday and I did that today also. I am in good average now.”

He added: “There are guys trying to take off the jersey from my shoulders. As a team we can be very happy with the result we got today. We went a little bit too early on the lead but that’s sprinting and every sprint is a lesson. I was not in the first group at the beginning and had a bridge to cross along with Fabian (Cancellara). The wind was very strange today - every time you thought that it had died down it suddenly picked up again. I think the weather may be changing a bit. There seemed to be a little more dust in the air so we will see how that works for the rest of the week.”

Farrar’s sixth place finish in front of Al Gharafa Stadium kept him in touch with 31-year-old Boonen and Cavendish in the General Classification and helped Garmin-Barracuda to stay at the top of the overall team standings.

Germany’s Rudi Selig, who holds the white jersey, is now a second clear in the young riders GC. Today, the cyclists will complete the 144-km stage four that begins from Al Thakira and ends at Madinat Al Shamal.

THE PENINSULA

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