Mark Cavendish wins Abu Dhabi Tour final stage as Tanel Kangert seals overall title
Sunday 23 October 2016 18:43, UK
Mark Cavendish ended his road season with a win on the final stage of the Abu Dhabi Tour as Estonia's Tanel Kangert sealed overall victory.
Cavendish (Dimension Data) claimed his 10th win of the year by out-sprinting second-placed Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) and third-placed Elia Viviani (Team Sky) in a night-time finish at the Yas Marina F1 circuit.
Cavendish was given a textbook lead-out by his team-mates and although Nizzolo was sitting in his slipstream, the Italian was unable to come past and eventually lost by a bike's length.
Kangert (Astana) followed safely in the peloton to complete a 21-second triumph over runner-up Nicolas Roche (Team Sky) in the general classification, while Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) finished 43 seconds down in third.
Cavendish will now return to England to take part in the London Six Day track cycling event alongside Sir Bradley Wiggins from Tuesday to Sunday next week.
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He said: "It was very fast. My team-mates controlled the group really well the whole day. I got an incredible lead-out. Mark Renshaw was very calm going into the finale. I just had to jump."
Kangert, who claimed his first overall victory in a stage race, added: "I was excited to race in the leader's jersey. It was my first time leading a professional race. I'm happy everything went well and I might be back soon to defend the title in February."
The third edition of the Abu Dhabi Tour will take place from February 23-26 next year and form part of the UCI WorldTour for the first time.
Stage four result
1 Mark Cavendish (GB) Dimension Data, 3:07:44
2 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo, same time
3 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky, st
4 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Orica-BikeExchnage, st
5 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing, st
6 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Giant-Alpecin, st
7 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica-BikeExchange, st
8 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida, st
9 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data, st
10 Michael Kolar (Slo) Tinkoff, st
General classification
1 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana, 12:27:34
2 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky, +21sec
3 Diego Ulissi (Ita) lampre-Merida, +43
4 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana, +1:00
5 Alberto Contador (Esp) Tinkoff, +same time
6 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo, +1:02
7 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing, +1:29
8 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Giant-Alpecin, +1:38
9 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar, st
10 Jesper Hansen (Den) Tinkoff, st