Mark Cavendish eased up before the finish line of stage 2 of the Dubai Tour, accepting defeat at the hands of Elia Viviani but at least satisfied that he had been able to make his sprint and go close to victory.
The Manxman was fourth in the results, with Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Riccardo Minali (Astana) passing him before the line. However, the official result counted far less than the success or failure of Dimension Data's sprint strategy, the watts produced during the sprint and his personal sensations. Cavendish was disappointed to be beaten, a clear sign he had a chance of victory.
"For me, fourth is as if I get second; I sit up when I know I'm not going to win. That's always how it is. For me it's win or nothing. This time I was beaten, that's it," Cavendish said after getting changed and before heading to anti-doping.
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"I lost to Elia but it's not the first time I've lost to him, so I can't complain about that. It doesn't matter the reasons why he was better than me today. He beat me. I'm happy for him. I like Elia and it's his birthday, so I wish him a happy birthday."
Even a few minutes after the sprint, Cavendish analysed his performance, his team's performance and was able to highlight the reasons why he was beaten. His thoughts were analysis, not excuses.
"We had a fair drag strip race, I jumped and that's it, I couldn't have gone harder. I thought he was going to die but he just accelerated," Cavendish said.
Quick-Step Floors make the difference
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