Cavendish comes from the clouds to win in Oman

It didn’t take long for the Manx missile to take off in 2022, as Mark Cavendish (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team) won Stage 2 of the Tour of Oman from a seemingly impossible position.

Mark Cavendish, Kaden Groves, Tour of Oman Source: ASO

Watch daily extended highlights from the 2022 Tour of Oman on SBS On Demand.

Following a rough winter with a serious crash during the Ghent six-day event at the end of 2021, the British star dominated the sprint, winning ahead of Australian Kaden Groves (BikeExchange-Jayco) and Amaury Capiot (Arkea-Samsic).

The decorated sprint star had to do most of the final kilometre by himself, eventually launching a long sprint around the outside of the pack to claim a notable victory in the most impressive fashion.

Cavendish also takes the red leader’s jersey from Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates), though he will be hard pressed to retain the lead after Stage 3, an uphill finish in Qurayyat.

It was another sunny start, from Naseem Park, for the 99 riders remaining in the Tour of Oman.

Antonio Angulo (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Stephen Clancy (Team Novo Nordisk) were the first riders to attack, nearly joined by a Bardiani rider before he decided better of it and headed back to the peloton. Mohammed Al-Wahibi (Oman National Selection Team) attempted to join them, after he already spent stage 1 in the breakaway, but this time he was too late to join the move.

Fernando Gaviria’s UAE Team Emirates and Mark Cavendish’s Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team brought the attackers’ lead down to 2’25’’ after 50km. The Oman National team and Kaden Groves’ Bike-Exchange-Jayco also sent a man to the front of the bunch.

Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) took a bonus second at the intermediate sprint to bolster his bid for the overall victory. The early attackers were caught just inside the last 30km., prompting an attack from Gabriel Muller (Burgos-BH).

He quickly opened up a 50’’ gap but the peloton reacted and caught him with still 15km to ride, and the peloton readied for a sprint.

The final kilometres were dominated by BikeExchange-Jayco at the head of the peloton, with Groves a bit further behind following other leadout trains. In the final few hundred metres, Max Richeze (UAE Team Emirates) led out Fernando Gaviria, but it proved to be a bit too early, as Mark Cavendish came from way back to swing round the bunch and claim the win, with Groves also coming home fast to finish second, with Capiot third. 

Watch daily extended highlights from the 2022 Tour of Oman on SBS On Demand.