IN the many years they have been riding together, it has been relatively rare for Mark Cavendish to pick up a race win without assistance from Bathurst team-mate Mark Renshaw.
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The pair have formed the best lead-out and sprint combination in the sport and are doing it this year at their new team, Dimension Data.
But Cavendish, whose speed has been doubted in recent times to some extent, showed he is still a potent force even without his main offsider next to him as he opened the Tour of Qatar with a blistering burst to the line to take the win on Monday evening Australian time.
The Qatar event is one that Renshaw has won outright in the past, but his job at this year’s race is based around Cavendish’s success, and high winds on day one meant that he didn’t get to play much of a part.
Riding 176 kilometres from Dukhan to Al Khor Corniche over flat terrain, the peloton was bowling along at around 52 kilometres per hour for the initial part of the race.
But as the peloton’s direction changed, the wind gusts began to have an impact.
The main group split, leaving 21 riders at the head of the field.
Renshaw missed the break, leaving Isle of Man star Cavendish with Edvald Boasson Hagen and Tyler Farrar for company, though he lost Farrar to a puncture mid-way through the stage.
The BMC team had four riders in the break, as did Katusha, meaning the odds were against the Dimension Data sprinter.
He lost the first intermediate sprint to Alexander Kristoff but won the second, showing that his speed was better than he might have displayed at last week’s Tour of Dubai.
As they neared the finish line, Kristoff’s Katusha team-mates began to lead him towards the sprint at the three-kilometre mark, but he was stalked by Cavendish, and Boasson Hagen held his wheel to protect it from anyone trying to follow him.
Kristoff was left in a good spot by his team-mates, but didn’t have a lot of kick left in his legs, and Cavendish was in the perfect spot to take full advantage.
Cavendish eased past him and, in the end, actually won quite comfortably to snare his first stage victory for his new team, and doubtless the Africa-based outfit are excited by the prospects for this season.
It also showed that Cavendish’s track focus of late hasn’t taken away too much from his speed on the road.
Renshaw finished in the second bunch just over a minute and 40 seconds behind, in 42nd spot.
With significant time gaps behind him, he did well to cross the line in the group that he did.
