Mark Cavendish seals sprint victory on stage 2 of the Tour of Oman to take first stage win of 2022

Published 11/02/2022 at 16:18 GMT

Mark Cavendish won a sprint victory on stage 2 of the Tour of Oman to take his first stage win of 2022. Cavendish pipped Kaden Groves on the line to take the win which also saw him take the lead of the race from UAE Team Emirates' Fernando Gaviria. The Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl rider said he was "satisfied with his form" after coming back from injury. The 11th edition of the event ends on Tuesday.

Mark Cavendish won the sprint on stage 2 of the Tour of Oman to take his first stage victory of 2022.

Image credit: Getty Images

Mark Cavendish sprinted to victory on stage 2 of the Tour of Oman to register his first win of 2022.

After missing out on Thursday's opening stage to Fernando Gaviria, Cavendish timed his drive to the line better in Suhar Corniche - and in so doing also took the race leader's jersey off the Colombian.

Cavendish said: "I was looking forward to this sprint, as it was similar to a Tour de France one, with a long finishing straight of over one kilometre.

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"Everyone on the team was committed and did a great job.

"Coming into the stage I had a lot of confidence.

"When the sprint started I was a bit far back but I had a good speed and I'm happy with the way things panned out."

Cavendish has only just returned to competitive cycling following a difficult winter in which he suffered a traumatic burglary in his home as well as a serious crash at the Six Days of Ghent back in November.

"It's only been a few weeks since I returned on my bike following that crash on the track so I'm quite satisfied with my form," the 36-year-old said.

"To take a win so early in the season is always important - and we hope to get more nice results before the Tour of Oman ends."

Gaviria might've been entitled to feel frustration at Cavendish beating him to the line, but the Colombian just seemed glad to have the legendary Manxman back in the mix.

"It’s nice to have the old Cav in the peloton," Gaviria said.

"Because having one guy like him in the group is really important.

"Cav is in good shape now because I saw yesterday on the climb he moved good and also today he did a really good sprint."

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