Fit Cavendish stuns Boonen for stage win

British cycling sensation Mark Cavendish showed signs of regaining full fitness by beating Belgian ace Tom Boonen with a stunning sprint finish in the 146.5km third stage from Dukhan to Al-Gharafa Stadium in the Tour of Qatar here yesterday.This was Cavendish’s first victory for his new team Sky. Despite the second place finish, Omega Pharma-Quick Step’s Boonen continued to keep the golden jersey for the overall lead. The third place was bagged by Aidis Kruopis of GreenEDGE.“I’m very happy with the victory here. I’m still not 100 per cent but I wanted to ride and we wanted to ride as a team. We didn’t expect it to split up but I was looked after by the lads and we didn’t need to ride on the front. “I had (Bernie) Eisel and (Juan Antonio) Flecha with me in the final. I have was boxed in but had to swing out and left it late and came around. I was wheel to wheel with Boonen. It’s incredible to win with this (rainbow) jersey,” said an elated Cavendish. Boonen, however, still has a six -second edge over American Tyler Farrar and eight seconds over Cavendish in the overall standings going into the fourth stage.Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha), Mehdi Sohrabi (Lotto Belisol Team), Mart Ojavee (Champion System) and Alexandre Lemair (Bridgestone Anchor) were the four men to break away from the pack. The first intermediate sprint after 66km at Umm al-Qahab was won by Sohrabi ahead of Ignatyev and Lemair.Iranian Sohrabi also went on to win the second bonus sprint at 104.5km at Al-Otouriya but by then, the advantage over the chasing pack had dropped to 2’25. The escapees were caught at 117 km by 35 riders including race leader Boonen, defending champion Mark Renshaw, Cavendish, Philippe Gilbert, Adam Blythe, Fabian Cancellara and Tyler Farrar.All these stars remained together until the final bunch sprint and here, Cavendish, staying right at the wheel of stage one winner Boonen, made his move with just one kilometre to go. The British rider showed that he had enough power in his legs to beat Boonen at the tape.“There are three stages remaining and the first objective is to try and win one more stage. The golden jersey is not difficult if you try to do every sprint in every stage. The guy who will win the Tour of Qatar this year will be the guy that has more top three finishes. “I’m at a good average right now but there are a lot of guys out there who are trying to get the jersey off my shoulders. Today, I couldn’t go very fast but as a team we can be happy with the rest. We got a little bit too early on the lead but then that’s sprinting,” said the 31-yr-old Belgian. The 144km fourth stage starts from Al-Thakhira at 12.36pm today and ends at Madinat al-Shamal by 3.45pm. The first intermediate sprint will be held after 55km at Al-Ghuwairiya, and the second after 81.5km at Al-Zubara.