Cavendish praises Dimension Data teamwork as he lands first win of 2017
Team studied mistakes from 2016, when Cavendish was third in a similar stage
Mark Cavendish said the psychological importance of landing his first victory of the season, and of triumphing over a stellar array of sprinters, paled into insignificance compared to the pride he took in the work of his teammates on the opening stage of the Abu Dhabi Tour.
Cavendish: I'll be at my best when it really matters
Cavendish, Kittel, Ewan and Greipel offer mouth-watering sprint showdown at Abu Dhabi Tour
Cavendish strikes first in Abu Dhabi Tour sprint
Crashes take down GC favourites and sprinters in Abu Dhabi
Doull claims Kittel's 'lethal' disc brake bike almost caused serious injury
The Dimension Data sprinter picked up where he left off on Thursday, claiming his first win of the campaign at the same race where he took his last of 2016 – the Abu Dhabi Tour has moved from October to February – and on the same day of the month, no less.
And it was the corresponding stage of last year’s edition that served as a learning curve.
"Not particularly, I get more of a boost that my team did everything right," he said. "If I’d have lost today, I’d have had a lot of groveling to do."
Watch highlights of the stage above and to subscribe to the Cyclingnews video channel, click here.
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Patrick is an NCTJ-trained journalist, and former deputy editor of Cyclingnews, who has seven years’ experience covering professional cycling. He has a modern languages degree from Durham University and has been able to put it to some use in what is a multi-lingual sport, with a particular focus on French and Spanish-speaking riders. Away from cycling, Patrick spends most of his time playing or watching other forms of sport - football, tennis, trail running, darts, to name a few, but he draws the line at rugby.