Mark Cavendish second to Fernando Gaviria on season debut at Tour of Oman
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Published 10/02/2022 at 18:58 GMT
Mark Cavendish narrowly missed out on victory in his first race of the year. The 36-year-old has been recovering from injuries suffered at Six Days of Ghent in November. He competed in a sprint for the line on the opening stage of the Tour of Oman but couldn't chase down Fernando Gaviria. Australian Kaden Groves came home in third place.
Fernando Gaviria (C) beat Mark Cavendish (R) to the line
Image credit: Getty Images
Mark Cavendish was a close second on his season debut at the Tour of Oman.
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl rider Cavendish was pipped to the line on the opening stage in a sprint finish by UAE Team Emirates’ Fernando Gaviria.
Cavendish, 36, beat Australian Kaden Groves (BikeExchange-Jayco) into third.
Cavendish was competing for the first time since suffering serious injuries at Six Days of Ghent in November.
He was sat in the fourth wheel as the sprint started and showed a turn of speed to make up ground, but couldn’t catch Gaviria before the line.
The 138km stage featured an early breakaway from Jan Dunnewind (Team Novo Nordisk), Peio Goikoetxea (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Mohammed Al-Wahibi (Oman).
They were caught after the only climb of the day and it was left to the sprinters to challenge for victory.
The second stage on Friday is a flat 167.5km route from Naseem Park to Suhar Corniche.
Cavendish, who won a stage at the Tour of Oman in 2011, is currently on a one-year extension deal with Quick-Step, and barring any further issues he will appear at the season's first Grand Tour, the Giro d'Italia.
That means he may not feature at the Tour de France, thereby missing out on the chance to go past Eddy Merckx's record for stage victories in the event.
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