Cavendish Takes Abu Dhabi Tour Lead

Mark Cavendish is the new leader of the Abu Dhabi Tour after victory on stage two.

The second stage in this four stage race was a 115km stage around Abu Dhabi finishing at Al Marina.

On a flat stage, six riders in Jan Polanc (Lampre Merida), Stanislau Bazhkou (Minsk), Dion Smith (ONE), Samuel Williams (ONE), Jens Keukeleire (Orica-GreenEdge) and Eugert Zhupa (Willier-Southeast) formed the break and were 2.06 ahead after 32kms.

Their lead was never allowed to get more than 2.30 clear and with 55kms left, it was down to 1.30.

Sprints leader Keuekleleire, added to his tally when he won the first intermediate sprint ahead of Zhupa and Smith as the gap dropped to 1.10 with 25kms left.

It was up to 1.30 with ten kilometres left and a minute with seven left and those in the break were starting to fancy their chances of victory.

However, with five hundred metres remaining, the peloton caught them and Mark Cavendish of Dimension Data went early and was able to hold on to win in 2.32.21, ahead of Elia Viviani (Team Sky) and Andrea Guardini (Astana).

The win put Cavendish into the leader's red jersey and he said about his victory: "I’m very happy to win here, being the ambassador of the race. I got caught yesterday, I wanted to come here and be successful. It’s very good to win. I was in a hard position at the end but to see Mark Renshaw come back and help me win was very enjoyable. The question about still being motivated so late in the season is also about how early the season starts. It’s difficult to get WorldTour points in January and stay on form until now. I usually peak for the Tour de France in July, but this year is different because the World Championships suited me and the Abu Dhabi Tour suits me as well."

STAGE RESULT
1 - Mark Cavendish (Team Dimension Data) 115km in 2h32’21”, average speed 45.290km/h
2 - Elia Viviani (Team Sky) s.t.
3 - Andrea Guardini (Astana Pro Team) s.t.

JERSEYS

• RED JERSEY, sponsored by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council (General Classification by time) – Mark Cavendish (Team Dimension Data)
• GREEN JERSEY, sponsored by Nation Towers (General Classification by points) – Mark Cavendish (Team Dimension Data)
• WHITE JERSEY, sponsored by Abu Dhabi Sports (Best Young Rider, born after 1 January 1991) – Dion Smith (One Pro Cycling)
• BLACK JERSEY, sponsored by Etihad (Intermediate Sprint Classification) – Jens Keukeleire (Orica - BikeExchange)