Cavendish admits error after third-place finish at Abu Dhabi tour

The Manxman's Dimension Data team worked to reel in the four-man breakaway, but Cavendish was out of position in the closing stages and crossed the line behind Nizzolo and Giant Alpecin's John Degenkolb.

Cavendish's misjudgement followed another admitted error in the final 200m of Sunday's World Championships road race, but he was not letting the errors phase him and praised his team for their efforts in setting up the sprint.

"I was just too far back in the last corner. I tried to move up but there were riders all up the road, so I had to soft pedal behind them. It was my fault," said the 31-year-old.

"We're not a team who is willing to let a race slip away.

"So if it's not going to come back then we'll commit everyone. Maybe some teams are maybe here on holiday and they don't care if the break goes.

"The gap went up with 20km to go and they weren't easy guys to catch, they're strong guys.

"We put Youcef Reguigui up front, who was our third man but fortunately you could see the guys in the break were cooked."

Orica BikeExchange's Michael Matthews would have been the favourite to take a sprint from the break, but he, teammate Jens Keukeleire, ONE Pro Cycling's Dion Smith and Gatis Smukulis, of Astana, were caught with six kilometres of the 147km stage to go.

Friday sees the peloton ride 115km from Abu Dhabi city centre, around the emirate to the city's marina.

Sportsbeat 2016