Cav Wins in Italy

Mark Cavendish has won the 169 kilometre final stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico in Italy.

He gained revenge over American Tyler Farrar who surprisingly beat him to the line at the end of stage three.

It's the Laxey rider's 5th win of the season and the 33rd professional victory....he is now only 8 behind the most
successful British rider of all time Chris Boardman.

Cav has won at least one stage at every race he has contested in 2009 - he took two stages in both Qatar and California.

After the finish, he said "“The other day I was beaten on the line, so I had a point to prove today. I wasn’t out for revenge because I like to win every race I ride, but I wanted to prove I’m the fastest.”

“The team rode perfectly yet again. They kept the break under control and then I had the perfect lead out. Bennati went but I was able to get past him quite easily.”

The Manx star now heads to Saturday's classic 185 mile Milan to San Remo race - a distance which is unknown territory and includes some famous climbs.

After that, he will head to Poland for next week's World Track Championships after his surprise inclusion in the Great Britain squad. After his disappointment at the Olympics in Beijing, Cav announced he was turning his back on the track to concentrate on his road career.

After his latest victory in Italy, Mark explained his change of mind saying “I’ve always enjoyed racing on the track. I believe the big advantage of continuing to do some track racing is that it helps develop my leg speed and can help me reach my road racing goals. I am very focused on my goals on the road with Columbia-Highroad. All my thoughts at the moment are on Milan San Remo. Only after that will I start thinking about World Championships”

Columbia-Highroad Team Manager Rolf Aldag added "It is all about leg speed, Cav is the fastest road sprinter because he has that extra speed. The track offers a good opportunity to work on this and keep him on a high level of performance.

“He has proven before that he is competitive on the track and can adjust to the track very quickly. We support his decision to race on the track as we have done with many of our athletes, including the four athletes that participated in track events at the Olympic Games in Beijing.”

Cavendish is the reigning World Madison Champion having won the title last year in Manchester with Bradley Wiggins. He is expected to team up with fellow Isle of Man cyclist Peter Kennaugh in the event in Poland a week on Saturday.

Jonny Bellis has also been selected for the World Track Championships meaning 50% of the Men's endurance squad is from the Island.