Cavendish praises Dimension Data teamwork as he lands first win of 2017

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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.

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."

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