Cavendish marks return to Tour by clinching first stage

Mark Cavendish made a winning start to the 2011 Tour of Britain as the Manxman prevailed in a sprint finish on the opening stage in Scotland.

Cavendish, who has won 20 stages of the Tour de France, including five this year as he took the green jersey, battled both his rivals and the unforgiving Scottish weather before coming out on top in a bunch sprint in Dumfries.

In high winds and driving rain, Cavendish was helped home by his HTC Highroad lead-out man Mark Renshaw to make a perfect start to a race he last contested in 2007.

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Cavendish led the pack home in a time of four hours, 41 minutes and six seconds, with Australian Renshaw in close attendance in second and Holland’s Theo Bos (Rabobank) in third.

“It’s incredible to win the first stage and get the leaders jersey,” said Cavendish.

“If the weather had been better we would have been a bit quicker but I think it would still have been the same result.

“Hopefully, it will be a sprint again (today).

“I am going to try and defend the jersey and try and get another stage win.”

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Cavendish was only given the green light to race in Scotland after being given special dispensation by world governing body the UCI to compete despite pulling out of the Vuelta a Espana.

UCI rules state that anyone who pulls out of one race is unable to compete in another while the first race is ongoing, and the Vuelta overlaps with the Tour of Britain by one day.

However, the 26-year-old was granted his place in the field and wasted no time in putting on a show for the fans that lined the road on the 170.3km ride out of Peebles.

“We had wicked support today,” added Cavendish.

“The amount of cheers and banners along the stage was brilliant – super encouraging.

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“You wouldn’t expect this is Britain and it’s very different to when I last raced here in 2007. It’s very nice. This event is certainly growing.”

The stage was led for the most part by Russell Hampton (Sigma Sport-Specialized) and Pieter Ghyllebert (An Post), who worked together in an early breakaway to open up a six-minute lead over the peloton.

But the HTC Highroad and Sky teams worked in tandem at the head of the peloton to close the gap, catching the leaders with less than 10km to go to set up Cavendish perfectly for his trademark finish.

Cavendish was joined in the top 10 by a host of fellow Britons, with Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) in fifth, Rotherham’s Ben Swift (Team Sky) seventh, Roger Hammond (Garmin Cervelo) ninth and Ian Wilkinson (Endura Racing) rounding out the top 10.

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n Spain’s Juan Jose Cobo claimed overall victory in the Vuelta a Espana as Britain’s two-pronged assault on the top of the podium came up short on the 21st and final stage in Madrid.

Cobo all but sealed victory a week ago when he produced a superb ride to win the punishing 15th stage in the mountains of Asturias, and over the past few days did exactly what was required to preserve the gap to Team Sky duo Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins.

As he crossed the line in the Spanish capital yesterday, the 30-year-old Geox-TMC rider had maintained his 13-second lead over Froome, with Wiggins 99 seconds down as the British pair completed the top three – the first time two Britons have stood together on the podium at a Grand Tour event.

For Cobo, who many thought had missed the chance to make his mark on cycling’s biggest events, the victory was a sweet moment.

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“I’ve passed through some bad moments the past few months, but now I see things differently,” Cobo said in quotes reported by www.cyclingnews.com.

“You realise that hard work and sacrifice are worth it – this win makes up for the suffering that I’ve gone through on the bike.”

Tour stages

Monday, 12 September: Stage Two, Kendal to Blackpool.

Tuesday, 13 September: Stage Three, The Stoke-on-Trent Stage.

Wednesday, 14 September: Stage Four, Welshpool to Caerphilly.

Thursday, 15 September: Stage Five, Exeter to Exmouth.

Friday, 16 September: Stage Six, Taunton to Wells.

Saturday, 17 September: Stage Seven, Bury St Edmunds to Sandringham.

Sunday, 18 September: Stage Eight a, The TfL Stage, Individual Time Trial/ Stage Eight b The TfL Stage, Circuit Race.