MARK Cavendish’s troubled early season finally came good on Tuesday when he won stage two of the Tour of Catalonia in Spain. The HTC-Columbia was the clear winner in a slightly uphill finish at the small town of Banyoles, crossing the line a couple of bike lengths ahead of SaxoBank’s Juan Jose Haedo.
‘More than relief I feel pride because the team never lost their confidence in me,’ said the 24-year-old Manxman after the completion of the 182.6 kilometre stage from Salt. ‘The lads gave it 100 per cent and despite it being a young team here, they were full committed and never lost faith. Without them, I wouldn’t have won.’
Cav is seventh overall in the five-day event having produced a strong ride in the opening short and technical 3.6km prologue in Lloret de Mar on Monday – the same town where he took one of the earliest sprint wins of his career in a stage of Catalonia in 2007.
