Mark Cavendish missed out on a chance for victory at the Vattenfall Cyclassics race on Sunday after crashing just two kilometres from the finish.
The Etixx-QuickStep rider had survived the final climbs and attacks in the one-day WorldTour race and looked set to take on sprint rivals Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) and Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) for victory. However, as the different lead out trains fought to control the peloton, a touch of wheels on a straight section of road seemed to leave Cavendish on the ground.
He quickly got back up and was not hurt despite several tears on the back of his jersey but his chances of winning the Vattenfall Cyclassics had gone out of the window. Teammate Tom Boonen took over the protected sprinter role in the absence of Cavendish and finished fourth behind Greipel, Kristoff and Italy’s Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing). Cavendish’s last win on the road was on stage seven of the Tour de France in Fougères, when he beat Greipel and Peter Sagan.
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Cavendish took the crash on the chin and eventually finished 66th, with teammate Stijn Vandenbergh. On Monday morning he tweeted: “1st crash for a while yesterday in @Cyclassics. Just 2.5km from the finish. Ah well, happy with my condition after my spell on the velodrome.”
The crash came after an eventful week that saw him become a father for a second time on Monday. Cavendish was present as his wife Peta gave birth to a boy.
The Manxman will be back in action on the track in Germany with the Great Britain team this week as he continues to pursue qualification points for a place in the UCI Track World Cup events, which could in turn ensure him a place in the Great Britain team for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games next summer. Cavendish hopes to ride the multi-discipline Omnium event in Rio.
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