Mark Cavendish said that it would have been his fault if he had not won the opening stage of the Abu Dhabi Tour.
Cavendish was led out superbly by his Dimension Data team who made sure that he avoided a big crash in the final kilometre and speaking about his win said; “I can't fault anyone in the team. If I'd lost it would have been only my fault. It was the same finish as last year and I was only third then, with us having made some mistakes.
"We went through what we did wrong last year, tried to do the complete opposite and that's what happened.”
STAGE RESULT
1 - Mark Cavendish (Team Dimension Data) 189km in 4h37’06”, average speed 40.923km/h
2 - Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) s.t.
3 - Niccolò Bonifazio (Bahrain - Merida) s.t.
JERSEYS
- The Red Jersey, sponsored by the Al Maryah Island (General individual classification by time) - Mark Cavendish (Team Dimension Data)
- The Green Jersey, sponsored by Nation Towers (General individual classification by points) - Mark Cavendish (Team Dimension Data)
- The White Jersey, sponsored by Abu Dhabi Sports Channel (Best Young Rider born after 1 January 1992) - Niccolò Bonifazio (Bahrain - Merida)
- The Black Jersey, sponsored by Etihad Airways (Intermediate Sprint Jersey Classification) - Manuele Mori (UAE Abu Dhabi)
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1 - Mark Cavendish (Team Dimension Data)
2 - Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) at 4"
3 - Niccolò Bonifazio (Bahrain - Merida) at 6"
Article by Kev Monks for Digital Sports Group
Source: DSG
