Cavendish regains Qatar lead

Cavendish had trailed Dimension Data team-mate Edvald Boasson Hagen by 26 seconds in the overall standings heading into the penultimate stage,

But the Norwegian punctured 8km from the finish to drop to fifth overall as his countryman Alexander Kristoff of Katusha won the day.

Cavendish crossed the line in fifth spot but holds a two-second advantage over Belgium's Greg van Avermaet heading into the final day.

But the Brit admits his happiness was tempered by disappointment for his team-mate after the mechanical incident.

"I'm not too worried about the gold jersey right now, I'm majorly disappointed for Edvald. He was in such a good position," said Cavendish.

"The lads rode incredibly all day and controlled it. We didn't need to control it but we did.

"But unfortunately Edvald punctured with less than 10k to go. BMC and Lotto-Jumbo went straight to the front full gas as soon as they heard on the radio, so there was no chance of Edvald coming back."

Sportsbeat 2016