THE potential was there, but Mark Renshaw and his Dimension Data team-mates still need to work on confidence and execution in sprint finishes after missing out at the Tour de Yorkshire.
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Bathurst talent Renshaw formed part of the six-rider Dimension Data outfit that contested the four-stage event, with his role to be the lead out man for Mark Cavendish when it came to sprint finishes.
Hungry for success, Renshaw's team got their chance to set their sprint train into action on stage two.
Renshaw peeled off with some 300 metres to go in the 132 kilometre leg from Barnsley to Bedale, placing his sprinter on the right and by the barriers. But Cavendish got swamped and had to settle for 18th.
"Maybe we put him a little bit too far in front with the uphill finish," Renshaw said afterwards.
"We'll look at the footage of the dying moments and we're glad it came to a sprint, but we didn't set him up perfect. We have to be patient but we need to get a little bit better. We messed up the final a bit."
READ MORE: Renshaw and Cavendish to unite in Yorkshire
Cavendish himself admitted that "I hesitated a bit longer than I should have" in that stage as well.
However, while both were critical of their efforts, the good news was that the fitness of both Cavendish and Renshaw is certainly improving after a disrupted start to the season.
The other positive for the team was that Tom-Jelte Slagter placed fourth in the final stage and seventh in the general classification.
