Olympics Rio 2016: Mark Cavendish takes silver in omnium, Elia Viviani wins

Updated 15/08/2016 at 22:30 GMT

Mark Cavendish starred in an exciting points race to finally end his hunt for an Olympic medal with silver in the men’s omnium.

Mark Cavendish (GBR) of Britain

Image credit: Reuters

The Manxman scored 194 points – 13 adrift of Italian victory Elia Viviani – to secure a spot on the podium after the six-event discipline.

Denmark’s defending champion Lasse Norman Hansen staged a remarkable recovery to take bronze with 192 points, despite being a shock first casualty in the elimination race on Sunday.

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"I have got my Olympic medal," Cavendish told BBC Sport. "It is really nice but gold would have finished the collection. I don't think I'll be going for Tokyo but you never know."

Cavendish’s previous Olympic experiences have left a sour taste, with failures to win the Madison in Beijing and road race in London blighting a stellar career.

And there were concerns another disaster was unfolding when Cavendish caused a crash which wiped out Viviani and left South Korea’s Park Sanghoon requiring medical attention.

However, the 31-year-old was not penalised and he set about acquiring points in sprints.

Just 10 points separated the top three riders with two sprints remaining, but Cavendish opted to shadow rival Hansen rather than pursue Viviani in provisional gold.

It proved a sensible move as the 30-time Tour de France stage winner picked up a point in each of those sprints to secure silver after the 160-lap (40 kilometres) affair.