Cavendish wins Missouri opener

Eurosport - Tue, 08 Sep 23:11:00 2009

Britain's Mark Cavendish outsprinted a large field to claim the opening stage of the Tour of Missouri.

CYCLING 2009 - Britain's Mark Cavendish gets kisses after winning the first stage of the Tour of Missouri - 0

Cavendish, who won six stages of the Tour de France this year, crossed the finish line of the 120.7km circuit around St. Louis in two hours, 43 minutes, 55 seconds.

Argentine Juan Jose Haedo was second while Norway's Thor Hushovd finished third in the 10-lap race. All three were credited with the same time.

The race features 15 teams, including seven ProTour squads and 24 riders who competed in this year's Tour de France.

Moises Aldape of Mexico, Tomas Vaitkus of Lithuania and Denmark's Chris Sorensen spent the majority of the stage with a slight lead before they were steadily absorbed on the final lap, setting up the full-field sprint.

Unlike the Tour de France, in which Cavendish often had his team-mates near the front in the final kilometre, the 26-year-old had to find his way around Hushovd in the dash to the line.

There were two crashes in the final kilometre, but no serious injuries.

American Levi Leipheimer and German Jens Voigt both returned to competition for the first time since crashing out of the Tour de France and finished in the main group along with last year's winner American Christian Vande Velde.

The race continues on Tuesday with a 180.9km stage from St. Genevieve to Cape Girardeau. The week-long race concludes in Kansas City on Sunday.

Vuelta a Espana stage 10 LIVE at 3pm on Tuesday on British Eurosport (Sky 410 / Virgin Media 521); Also available on your PC via the Eurosport Player - click on the link under the picture to subscribe

Reuters

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  1. Hey Belfastman, do us all a favour and go to your­ nearest Chemist, buy a bottle of Paracetomol tablets­ and take them all in one go. Cav will continue winning­ in spite of you.

    From tuggo, on Wed 9 Sep 8:46AM

  2. All these sprint wins have made Cav age 2 years in a­ few months, he is now (sic) 26 years old.

    From tuggo, on Wed 9 Sep 8:43AM

  3. I see Cav has won stage 2 as well! Incredible!

    From Liz S, on Tue 8 Sep 11:02PM

  4. Another bitter Irishman?

    From barrie.simm, on Tue 8 Sep 2:38PM
  5. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    They're not kissing him because they find him­ attractive. They're kissing him because they're­ paid to. I can understand being happy in victory but­ there's a difference between that and being a bit­ smug.

    From belfastfootball, on Tue 8 Sep 12:53PM

  6. Another one , stcking two fingers up to the Normoaning­ .. would not be smug having these podium girls kissing­ you

    From callum, on Tue 8 Sep 12:27PM
  7. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    There's no doubting Mark Cavendish's sprinting­ ability but does he really have to look quite­ 'so' smug when he's on the podium, awaiting­ a kiss on the cheeks from the podium girls?

    From belfastfootball, on Tue 8 Sep 11:44AM

  8. Is he riding in the tour of Britain next week?

    From mgh0302, on Tue 8 Sep 11:13AM

  9. while cav won this well...for once without his leadout­ train it's still worth noting Hushovd did have a­ puncture so rode the sprint with a deflating tire!

    From thomas, on Tue 8 Sep 9:40AM

  10. Even with no Columbia train, Cav is the best. This guy­ just keeps improving!

    From Liz S, on Tue 8 Sep 8:58AM
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