Cavendish wins final stage at Tour of Denmark

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Mark Cavendish (Sky) won the final stage of the Tour of Denmark with a powerful sprint in Frederiksberg while Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) sealed final overall victory in the five-day race.

Cavendish had won the Frederiksberg stage on his previous appearance in the Tour of Denmark in 2007 and after failing to land a win so far, the world champion was determined to sign off in the best possible fashion here. His Sky team controlled affairs at the head of the peloton throughout the stage, shutting down a break from Sebastian Lander (Glud & Marstrand) and Kristian Haugaard (Denmark) on the finishing circuit.

Lotto Belisol came to Sky’s aid in the final kilometres, setting the scene for a sprint duel between Cavendish and his great rival André Greipel. The Manxman proved the quickest in the finishing straight, however, coming home ahead of Matteo Pelucchi (Europcar), while Greipel crossed the line in 3rd.

“The team controlled the race the whole way,” Cavendish said. “The lads had great faith in me and delivered me to the line perfect. I’m really happy to get the win and repay their hard work, especially as I haven’t been in the best form recently.”

After winning the world title in Copenhagen last September, Cavendish was pleased to continue his winning run on Danish roads. “I won here in 2007 as well as winning the rainbow jersey in Denmark and it’s great to come back here and win here again,” he said.

Lieuwe Westra enjoyed an untroubled day in the leader’s jersey and finished the stage safely in the main peloton to seal overall victory, 10 seconds ahead of Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Sharp) and 14 clear of Manuele Boaro (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank).

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