Team Sky's Mark Cavendish avoided serious injury after taking a crashing fall on the final stage of the Tour of Qatar.
World champion emerges unscathed
Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) claimed the overall win as Team Sky's Mark Cavendish took a crashing fall on the sixth and final stage of the Tour of Qatar.
Cavendish was just winding up for his finishing kick inside the final 200 metres of the 120 kilometres stage to the Doha Corniche but he was short of room on the right due to the presence of Roger Kluge (Project 1t4i) and touched the wheel of Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Barracuda).
The world champion crashed to the ground but was soon back on his feet and despite cuts and bruises he was able to get back on his bike and roll over the line. He later rode back to the hotel with the rest of the team.
With Cavendish unable to contest for a third stage win of the week, it was left to Under-23 world road race champion Arnaud Démare (FDJ) to claim his first win as a pro, the French youngster showing a fine turn of speed to outsprint Denis Galimzyanov (Katusha) and Mark Renshaw (Rabobank).
As the field finishing together on the final stage it meant Boonen sealed a fourth overall victory in Qatar, winning by 28 seconds from Farrar, with Team Sky's Juan Antonio Flecha a further five seconds back in third.
Cavendish didn't lose time as his spill occurred inside the final 3km and he took sixth place on the general classification, ironically moving up a spot as team-mate Bernhard Eisel dropped down after stopping to make sure he was unscathed.
Contrasting fortunes
Until that point the final stage had followed a more predictable pattern on the the traditional run north along the coast into Doha.
A seven-man break had been allowed to build up a lead of over two minutes before they were gradually reeled in as the field rounded off the race with 10 laps of a 6km loop.
Team Sky Sports Director Steven de Jongh afterwards gave an update on the Cavendish incident, explaining: "He touched the back wheel of Farrar during the sprint. He wanted to go but Kluge came across and he hesitated a bit. He wanted to go again but then they touched wheels with Farrar and went down.
“It’s a pity to finish the race that way but luckily we have two wins and he has nothing broken so we can move onto Oman now.
"We’ve have two guys in the top 10 with Cav and Flecha and have won two stages so it's been pretty good race for the team overall."
