Team studied mistakes from 2016, when Cavendish was third in a similar stage
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Mark Cavendish takes the race lead after his win(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Mark Cavendish wins on stage one of the Abu Dhabi Tour(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) answers a question during the press conference(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) signs on with a smile(Image credit: ANSA - Peri / Bazzi)
Mark Cavendish and his Dimension Data teammates(Image credit: ANSA - Peri / Bazzi)
Mark Cavendish said the psychological importance of landing his first victory of the season, and of triumphing over a stellar array of sprinters, paled into insignificance compared to the pride he took in the work of his teammates on the opening stage of the Abu Dhabi Tour.
The Dimension Data sprinter picked up where he left off on Thursday, claiming his first win of the campaign at the same race where he took his last of 2016 – the Abu Dhabi Tour has moved from October to February – and on the same day of the month, no less.
And it was the corresponding stage of last year’s edition that served as a learning curve.
"Not particularly, I get more of a boost that my team did everything right," he said. "If I’d have lost today, I’d have had a lot of groveling to do."
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Patrick is a freelance sports writer and editor. He’s an NCTJ-accredited journalist with a bachelor’s degree in modern languages (French and Spanish). Patrick worked full-time at Cyclingnews for eight years between 2015 and 2023, latterly as Deputy Editor.
